Highlights
The latest overview of school crime is offered by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention and Statistics for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of Criminology and Public Affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former police officer. Retired federal senior spokesperson.
Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Produced successful state anti-crime media campaigns.
Thirty-five years of directing award-winning (50+) public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed thousands of times by every national news outlet, often with a focus on crime statistics and research. Created the first state and federal podcasting series. Produced a unique and emulated style of government proactive public relations.
Certificate of Advanced Study-The Johns Hopkins University.
Author of ”Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization” available at Amazon and additional booksellers.
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Article
I receive requests from readers for data on school crime. The latest report is summarized below. The 36-page report provides greater clarity and numerous graphics that enhance your understanding of school crime and disruption.
It’s offered mostly as presented.
If you have questions, the sources are:
National Center for Education Statistics-Véronique Irwin 202-245-6108-Veronique.Irwin@ed.gov
Bureau of Justice Statistics-Alexandra Thompson 202-532-5472-Alexandra.Thompson@usdoj.gov
Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2023
Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2023 provides the most recent national indicators on school crime and safety. The information presented in this report serves as a reference for policymakers and practitioners so that they can develop effective programs and policies aimed at violence and school crime prevention.
Accurate information about the nature, extent, and scope of the problem being addressed is essential for developing effective programs and policies. This is the 26th edition of Indicators of School Crime and Safety, a joint effort of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
This report provides summary statistics to inform the nation about current aspects of crime and safety in schools. Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety includes the most recent available data at the time of its development, compiled from a number of statistical data sources supported by the federal government. Such sources include results from: the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) School-Associated Violent Death Module, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Vital Statistics System, sponsored by CDC; the Studies of Active Shooter Incidents, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the National Crime Victimization Survey and School Crime Supplement to that survey, sponsored by BJS and NCES, respectively; the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, sponsored by CDC; the School Survey on Crime and Safety, EDFacts, and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, all sponsored by NCES; and the Campus Safety and Security Survey, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Some of these data are collected annually, while others are collected less frequently. This report is available as a PDF file at https://nces.ed.gov or https://bjs.ojp.gov. BJS and NCES continue to work together to provide timely and complete data on the issues of school-related violence and safety.
Summation
In recent years, reported incidents related to several crime and safety issues have become less prevalent at elementary and secondary schools when compared with about a decade earlier. Specifically, incidents of nonfatal student and teacher victimization, reports of student bullying, and reports of some unfavorable conditions at school have become less prevalent:
At school, the nonfatal criminal victimization rate (including theft and violent victimization) for students ages 12–18 decreased between 2012 and 2022 (from 52 to 22 victimizations per 1,000 students).
The percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school was lower in 2021–22 than in 2010–11 (19 vs. 28 percent).
Lower percentages of public school teachers in 2020–21 than in 2011–12 reported being threatened with injury by a student from their school (6 vs. 10 percent) or being physically attacked by a student from their school (4 vs. 6 percent).
Lower percentages of students ages 12–18 in 2021–22 than in 2010–11 reported the following unfavorable conditions at their school: gang presence (6 vs. 18 percent), being called hate-related words (7 vs. 9 percent), or seeing hate-related graffiti (23 vs. 28 percent).
The percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported having been in a physical fight on school property in the previous 12 months was lower in 2021 than in 2011 (6 vs. 12 percent).
In the most recent data on weapons and firearms, a lower percentage of students reported carrying a weapon (such as a gun, knife, or club) on school property, while public schools reported higher incident rates of firearm possessions, compared with the early 2010s.
The percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported carrying a weapon on school property at least 1 day during the previous 30 days decreased from 5 percent in 2011 to 3 percent in 2021.
During the 2021–22 school year, 5,000 public school students from kindergarten to 12th grade were reported to have possessed firearms at schools in the United States. This translates to an overall rate of 10 firearm possessions per 100,000 students, which was higher than in any other school year over the previous decade (ranging from 2 to 7 possessions per 100,000 students).
The percentage of public schools that reported having sworn law enforcement officers who routinely carried a firearm was lower in 2021–22 than in 2019–20 (45 vs. 51 percent).
Active Shooters
Active shooter incidents represent a subset of the possible gun violence incidents that occur at school. From 2000 through 2022, at elementary and secondary schools, there were a total of 50 active shooter incidents, with the annual number ranging from 0 to 6 incidents.
In 2022, there were 4 active shooter incidents documented at elementary and secondary schools. These resulted in 52 casualties,8 which was the second-highest number in any year since 2000, following 2018 (81 casualties).
Mental Health Services
Lower percentages of public schools in 2021–22 than in 2019–20 provided mental health services to students, including • diagnostic services (49 vs. 55 percent); and treatment services (38 vs. 42 percent).
However, 90 percent of public schools reported providing increased social and emotional support for students in 2021–22, and 78 percent reported doing so for staff.
At The Postsecondary Level, Crimes Were Generally Less Prevalent In 2021 Than A Decade Earlier
The overall rate of crimes reported on campuses of postsecondary institutions per 10,000 full-time equivalent students enrolled was 16 percent lower in 2021 (16.9) than in 2011 (20.0) but showed no consistent trend for this period.
The number of reported on-campus hate crimes was 12 percent lower in 2021 (667 incidents) than in 2011 (761 incidents).
In 2021, race, sexual orientation, and religion were the three most commonly reported categories of bias motivating these hate crimes, accounting for 81 percent of all reported hate crimes.
Despite the lower overall rate of crime in 2021 than in 2011 at the postsecondary level, the rate of forcible sex offenses increased between 2011 and 2021 (from 2.2 to 7.5 per 10,000 students).
Forcible sex offenses accounted for 44 percent of all criminal incidents reported on campus in 2021.
From 2000 through 2022, a total of 18 active shooter incidents were documented at postsecondary institutions, with the annual number ranging from 0 to 2.
These incidents resulted in 157 casualties (75 killed and 82 wounded).
There were no active shooter incidents documented at postsecondary institutions in 2022.
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