Gone are the days when security budgets and safety concerns were low priority items for college and university administrators, parents, and students. Crimes on campus are no longer viewed by the public and the media as minor mischief and the exceptional collegiate experience. For parents and incoming students, crime is perceived as a problem of life-threatening proportions. Crime statistics and campus security resources are now factors that receive prime consideration by many who are choosing a college.
Is campus crime a real problem, or only a perceived one? Actual crime risks vary substantially from campus to campus. A 1990 USA Today survey showed that the rate for all types of campus crimes was only about half the overall national crime rate of 57 per 1,000 people ("Violent Crime No Stranger on Campuses," 19901, yet some campuses have experienced very high rates of crime. In today's educational marketplace, where institutions contend against one another for students, faculty, and financial support, the mere perception of crime risk is as important as the reality.
Campus crime is, of course, a reflection of the rampant crime that plagues and subdues much of contemporary American life. According to federal figures, nearly eleven million Americans experience violent crimes each year (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995), and Americans are more likely to be victims of violent crime than to die from cancer, injury, or in a fire (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1988). The strange thing is that people seem to spend more time studying the health benefits of food and exercise than they do learning strategies to avoid becoming victims of crime; the latter is certainly a significant health risk.
Obviously a campus administrator would prefer to prevent crime before it happens rather than to deal with a crisis situation. In addressing the issue of