DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36217.v1
title: Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies, 2011-2012
title: Version 1

description: These data are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) 2011- 12 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies. In preparation for the survey, a universe list of 4-year and 2-year campuses was compiled using the United States Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The survey focused primarily on agencies serving 4-year universities and colleges with a fall headcount enrollment of 2,500 or more. In addition, 2-year institutions with 2,500 or more students and a sample of 4-year institutions with 1,000 to 2,499 students were surveyed. These campuses are covered in a separate report. Schools were classified according to the level of the highest proportion of degrees awarded. The survey excluded: United States military academies and schools, for-profit institutions, schools operating primarily online. Of the 905 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students identified as being potentially eligible for the 2011-12 survey, 861 reported that they were operating their own campus law enforcement agency. These 861 agencies were asked to provide data describing their personnel, functions, expenditures and pay, operations, equipment, computers and information systems, community policing activities, specialized units, and emergency preparedness activities. ICF International, with the assistance of BJS, served as the data collection agent. BJS also conducted surveys of campus law enforcement agencies covering the 1994-95 and 2004-05 school years. The reports produced from these surveys are available on the BJS Web site and data are available on the ICPSR Web site.
description: The 2011-12 survey was initially conducted as a Web-only data collection. Later follow-up efforts provided respondents with fax and mail-in response options. The final overall response rate was 90% for the core survey group of agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students, with 776 of 861 potential respondents completing either the long or short version of the survey questionnaire. While there were initially only two versions of the survey questionnaire -- a 64-question long version and a 36-question short version -- a third 23-question critical items version was added during the nonresponse follow-up phase of the data collection. The fourth and final response option asked agencies to provide only some very basic information, the most important being the number of full-time and part-time employees in each personnel category. A total of 537 agencies on campuses with 5,000 or more students received the long version of the survey questionnaire. A total of 456 (85 percent) of these agencies completed the long version. Agencies that chose not to complete the long version of the survey form were subsequently given the option of completing the shorter 36-question version. A total of 31 (6 percent) of the original long-form agencies completed the short form. Agencies that did not respond to the short-form option received the critical items version. A total of 17 agencies (3 percent of the original long-form agencies) completed the critical items version. The remaining 33 agencies (6 percent of those who initially received the long form) did not respond to any of the three response options offered. These agencies were subsequently contacted for basic information including the number and type of employees in their agency. A total of 324 agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 to 4,999 students received the shorter 36-question form. A total of 289 (89 percent) of these agencies completed this version. Agencies that chose not to complete the short version were given the option of completing the critical items version. Five (2 percent) short-form agencies completed the critical items version. The remaining 30 (9 percent) short-form agencies provided the basic information requested on the type and number of personnel. The final data set for agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students includes 456 agencies that completed the long version of the survey questionnaire, 320 agencies that completed the short version, 22 agencies that completed the critical items version, and 63 agencies that provided only the basic personnel counts.
description: Datasets: DS1: Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies, 2011-2012
description: All four-year institutions of higher education within the United States with 2,500 or more students. Smallest Geographic Unit: state
description: web-based survey