Report: 3 Percent of All Crimes Committed at Schools
WASHINGTON — Of the 17 million crimes reported from 2000 to 2004, 558,219 occurred at K-12, college and university campuses, according to a recent study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The report, “Crime in Schools and Colleges,” shows the number and type of crimes that occurred repeatedly from 2000 to 2004, as well as the statistics of offenders and victims, including age, race and sex. The FBI collected incident-based crime data from several law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to create the report.
Knives were the most commonly used weapons in crimes committed at school campuses during the five-year period. Of the more than 558,000 school crimes reported from 2000 to 2004, 10,970 incidents involved a knife. The use of knives/cutting instruments was almost three times more prevalent than the use of firearms, according to the study. Firearms were used in 3,400 crimes. Blunt objects were involved in 2,008 incidents.
Fists and feet were used in the majority of campus-related crimes that did not involve a personal weapon, the study states.
Crimes that resulted in arrests were arranged into four categories: crimes against persons, crimes against property, crimes against society, and crimes against persons, property and society. Nearly 96 percent of all crimes against persons consisted of simple and aggravated assaults or acts of intimidation, according to the study.
The majority of crimes against property involved destruction, damage and/or vandalism of property, with 11,909 arrests, the report states. Of the 61,845 arrests made for crimes against society, 70 percent, or 43,294, were for drug/narcotic violations. The total number of arrests made for crimes against persons, property and society during the five-year study was 2,393.
The 13- to 15-year-old age group accounted for 38 percent of those arrested, making it the largest arrest group for school crimes for which age was known. Males were 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for crimes in schools than females, the study states. More than 75 percent, or 313,556, of arrestees were male.
During the five-year period, whites made up the largest group of offenders (280,178), followed by blacks (107,878), Asians/Pacific Islanders (3,985), and American Indians/Alaskan Natives (2,132). The total number of offenders for whom race was unknown from 2000 to 2004 was 82,630.
Analysts also examined possible relationships between aggressors and victims to determine if any patterns were present. The study found that more than 50 percent of all campus crimes involved acquaintances.
Attacks by a stranger accounted for 7.5 percent of reported incidents. The study also found that the number of random assaults rose from 2,301 in 2000 to 3,700 in 2004.