Hot Spots of Crime

Provisions of the Clery Act require institutional reporting of crime on college campuses. Using the Clery Act data from Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, this study examines crime type fluctuation through seasonal patterns using a hot spot analysis. The data are mapped to identify geospatial patterns of crime through the seasons. This study investigates if certain crime types peak depending on the season and if the introduction of resident housing locations shift hot spots around campus using 2012-2018 Boise State Crime Logs. Results illustrate varying patterns of crime on campus through the seasons but general stability in the spatial distribution of crime. These findings may help allocate resources for campus safety most effectively across seasons.

Prevalence of Campus Rape

Most administrators of colleges and universities are aware of the statistics about the prevalence of campus sexual assault and rape. Campus sexual assault and rape have the potential for ruining the lives of both victims and perpetrators. The authors suggest that educators, administrators, and strategic leadership teams need to understand how social norms theory, sports, and rape culture play into the prevalence of campus sexual assault and rape on students' ability to thrive in and complete college and the need to adopt a proactive stance whereby they can help to offset the negative outcomes for the students involved while at the same time focusing on the legal and risk management impact of neglecting to establish and/or non-enforcement of policies to both prevent and address campus sexual assault and rape. Many educators and administrators fail to understand the potential costs of Title IX violations and benefits to colleges and universities from the violence against women laws, especially the Amended Clery Act. Lastly, recommendations are forthcoming in helping leaders and risk management employees be proactive and strategically plan to reduce and address the occurrences of campus sexual assault and rapes.

Do Party Schools Report Higher Rates of Violence Against Women in Their Clery Data? A Latent Class Analysis

The current study examined violent crimes against women among 1,384 four-year private and public college campuses using Clery Act data from 2014-2016 (i.e., rape, domestic and dating violence, stalking, and fondling). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify five types of campuses: smaller (22%), liberal arts (25%), satellite (16%), private (19%), and party schools (18%). Smaller schools reported the lowest rates of violence against women (VAW), whereas private schools had significantly higher reported rapes. These findings have important implications for the types of campuses seem to be abiding by Clery law and reporting crimes that involve VAW.