Latest Data Show Campus Law Enforcement Agencies Employ an Average of 2.1 Officers Per 1,000 Students
WASHINGTON ― The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announces the release of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies Serving 4-year Institutions, 2021–2022 – Statistical Tables, using data from the 2021 BJS Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies. The report primarily covers campus law enforcement agencies serving 4-year institutions with a full-time enrollment of 1,000 or more students, with historical information on institutions serving 2,500 or more.
In 2021, nearly 1,300 campus law enforcement agencies employed about 17,600 full-time sworn officers and 25,000 full-time civilians at 4-year institutions serving 1,000 or more full-time students. Agencies employed an average of 2.1 officers per 1,000 students, with agencies serving public institutions employing an average of 2.2 officers per 1,000 students, compared to an average of 1.8 per 1,000 in agencies serving private institutions.
Budgets for campus law enforcement agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more students totaled $2.7 billion, with agencies serving public institutions accounting for about $1.6 billion ($2.8 million average per agency) and agencies serving private institutions for about $1.1 billion ($1.6 million average per agency). For both agencies serving public and private institutions, those serving 10,000 or more students, on average, had larger operating budgets than those serving smaller enrollment size groups.
A lower percentage of campus law enforcement agencies serving public institutions with 1,000 or more students (65%) than of those serving private institutions (84%) had 24-hour patrol coverage by uniformed sworn or nonsworn operations personnel during the year. Around 81% of campus law enforcement agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more students had a formal written agreement or informal problem-solving partnership with other law enforcement agencies.
In agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more students in 2021, about 82% of full-time sworn officers were male and 18% were female. At institutions serving 2,500 or more full-time students, the percentage of full-time sworn officers who were white or black decreased from 2004 (69% white, 21% black) to 2021 (61% white, 19% black), while the percentage who were Hispanic increased from 6% to 11%.
Findings indicate that about 95% of agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more full-time students authorized the use of handguns for full-time sworn officers, with a higher percentage of agencies serving public institutions (98%) than private institutions (89%) authorizing their use.
In addition, campus law enforcement agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more students required an average of 929 total training hours for new full-time sworn officers: about 593 academy training hours and 337 field training hours.
Most agencies that required in-service training covered the topics of diversity (90%), de-escalation (89%), mental health (87%), bias or hate crimes (87%), crisis intervention (84%) and implicit bias (81%),” notes Kevin M. Scott Ph.D., BJS Acting Director. “Additionally, 57% had in-service training on threat assessment and 42% had in-service training on protest response.”
Campus Law Enforcement Agencies Serving 4-year Institutions, 2021–2022 - Statistical Tables, written by BJS Statistician Elizabeth J. Davis; related documents; and additional information about BJS’s statistical publications and programs are available on the BJS website at bjs.ojp.gov.
About the Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing and disseminating reliable statistics on crime and criminal justice in the United States. Kevin M. Scott, Ph.D., is the acting director. More information about BJS and criminal justice statistics can be found at bjs.ojp.gov.
About the Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime; advance equity and fairness in the administration of justice; assist victims; and uphold the rule of law. More information about OJP and its program offices – the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office for Victims of Crime and Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking – can be found at www.ojp.gov.
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