Department of Education
Department of Justice
EMBARGOED UNTIL 9:00 A.M. EDT BJS 202/307-0703
OCTOBER 26, 2000 NCES 202/401-1579
CRIMES IN THE NATION'S SCHOOLS DECLINED IN THE 1990s
ACCORDING TO DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE & EDUCATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. Crime in the nation's
schools decreased during the last seven years,
according to a new report issued today by the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice
Statistics and the Department of Education's
National Center for Education Statistics. The
report, Indicators of School Crime and Safety
2000, indicates that between 1992 and 1998
violent victimization rates at schools dropped
from 48 crimes per 1,000 students to 43 per
1,000. The percentage of students who said
they were victims of crimes (including either
theft or violent crimes) at school decreased
between 1995 and 1999 from 10 percent to 8
percent.
Between 1993 and 1997 students in grades 9
through 12 who reported carrying a gun, knife
or other weapon on school property during the
previous 30 days dropped from 12 percent to 9
percent, a 25 percent reduction. During 1998,
students aged 12 through 18 were victims of
more than 2.7 million crimes at school,
including about 253,000 serious violent crimes
(rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated
assault). In comparison, there were 550,000
such serious crimes away from school. The new
report indicates there were 60 violent deaths
at school between July 1, 1997 and June 30,
1998, including 47 homicides, 12 suicides and 1
teenager killed by a police officer in the line
of duty.
Between 1993 and 1997, the percentage of
9th through 12th grade students who were
threatened or injured with a weapon of any sort
on school property remained constant between
7 and 8 percent. Additionally, the percentage
of those students who reported being in a
physical fight on school property was unchanged
during the same period.
During the 1994-1998 period, teachers were
the victims of 1,755,000 crimes at school,
including 1,087,000 thefts and 668,000 serious
violent crimes. This amounts to 83 crimes per
1,000 teachers annually.
The report is the third in a series of
annual reports from the Justice Department and
the Department of Education and contains the
most recent available data from a number of
federally funded studies related to school
crime and safety. Thus, the time periods
covered by the different indicators vary.
The report is organized as a series of
indicators, with each indicator presenting data
on a different aspect of school crime and
safety. This year's report repeats many
indicators from the 1999 report, but also
provides updated data on fatal and nonfatal
student victimization, nonfatal teacher
victimization, students' perceptions of safety
and the presence of gangs, and students'
avoidance of places at school. In addition,
the report is referenced in the third Annual
Report on School Safety, also released today
and jointly produced by the Departments of
Justice and Education. The third Annual Report
on School Safety can be found on the Internet
at http://www.ed.gov.office/OESE/SDFS or by
calling 1-877/4ED-PUBS.
Single copies of Indicators of School
Crime and Safety, 2000 may be obtained from the
BJS fax-on-demand system by dialing
301/519-5550, listening to the menu, and
selecting document number 220 for the executive
summary and 221 for the press release, by
calling the BJS Clearinghouse at
1-800/732-3277, or by calling ED Pubs at
1-877/4ED-PUBS.
After 9:00 a.m. October 26 the full report
may be downloaded from the Internet at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ or from
http://nces.ed.gov
Additional criminal justice materials can
be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs
homepage at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
The Department of Education's media
contact is David Thomas at 202/401-1579.
The Department of Justice's media contact
is David Hess at 202/305-0779.
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BJS00229
After hours contact: David Hess at:
888/763-8943Date Published: October 26, 2000