College Campus Safety Resource Center
The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is pleased to announce the availability of the first in a series of reports on college crime and safety issues, Issues in Illinois College Campus Safety: History and Development of Campus Safety Planning. Other reports on the topic of college crime and safety issues are also highlighted.
Click on the logo to view Student Perceptions of Campus Safety Initiatives: Assessing Views of Critical Incident Prevention & Response report in PDF.
Click on the '+' sign below to expand the category to view a summary of the report.
- Student Perceptions of Campus Safety Initiatives Report
- Student Perceptions of Campus Safety Initiatives:
Assessing Views of Critical Incident Prevention & ResponseJune 2010
It has been approximately three years since the shooting at Virginia Tech University (VT) and two years since the shooting at Northern Illinois University (NIU); remarkably, we still know little about how these two high profile tragedies have affected college life. The more recent February 2010 incident involving a University of Alabama Huntsville professor's shooting of her colleagues has drawn renewed concern about violence on college campuses. To understand how campus officials responded in the wake of the first two shooting events, the authors of this report surveyed campus public safety agencies and their matched community law enforcement agency in a prior study (Giblin, Burruss, & Schafer, 2008). The report detailing the study results, Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus, showed that most surveyed campuses had undertaken rudimentary steps in response to potential critical incidents. Participating campus public safety representatives reported their institutions had: implemented new mass communication technologies, revised emergency response plans, participated in field training exercises, or trained non-safety personnel in emergency response. Moreover, a majority of agencies rated their capacity to handle critical incidents as fairly high, even though they rated the likelihood of an active shooter event as low.
As the authors disseminated the results of this 2008 study at academic conferences, colleagues asked how students were affected by the tragedies and what they thought of the policy changes. Furthermore, faculty and administrators, including the director of public safety at a large Illinois university, wondered whether students were paying attention to newly implemented critical event communication systems, or whether had they settled back into complacency. Since we had not surveyed students, we could not address these questions, although we realized they were important to answer.
- Student Perceptions of Campus Safety Initiatives:
Click on the logo to view Issues in Illinois College Campus Safety: History and Development of Campus Safety Planning, March 2010 report in PDF.
Click on the '+' sign below to expand the category to view a summary of the report.
- Issues in Illinois College Campus Safety Report
- Issues in Illinois College Campus Safety:
History and Development of Campus Safety PlanningMarch 2010
Issues in Illinois college campus safety: History and development of campus safety planning provides an overview of the history, development, and implications of Illinois campus safety planning, mandated by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and the Illinois Campus Crime Statistics Act of 2008.
This report is the first in a series by the Authority on Illinois college crime and safety issues. Subsequent reports will include data on offenses committed on and around campuses, trend analyses of reported criminal offenses at two- and four-year colleges, a comparison of arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, and the prevalence of reported sexual assault and hate crimes.
Since 1989, the Authority has received funds under the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the succeeding Justice Assistance Grant program to document the extent and nature of drug and violent crime in Illinois, and the criminal justice systems response to these offenses.
- Issues in Illinois College Campus Safety:
Click on the logo to view Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus: Examining the Relationship Between Local Law Enforcement and Post-Secondary Institutions in Illinois and the United States, December 2008 report in PDF.
Click on the '+' sign below to expand the category to view a summary of the report.
- Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus Report
- Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus: Examining the Relationship Between Local Law Enforcement and Post-Secondary Institutions in Illinois and the United States
December 2008
This final report was submitted to and produced from funding through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority by Matthew J. Giblin, George W. Burruss, and Joseph A. Schafer Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency & Corrections Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
The Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus research project was designed to describe the current practices of campuses with respect to critical incident prevention and response, paying particular attention to coordination with local law enforcement agencies.
This report is being released to the public near the first anniversary of the February 14, 2008 shootings on the campus of Northern Illinois University (NIU). The content of this report is particularly relevant to those interested in campus public safety, especially in light of two campus shooting incidents occurring within the course of a year in DeKalb, Illinois and Blacksburg, Virginia.
The impetus for this research project was the Virginia Tech (VT) shooting incident in April 2007; the authors observed in both Illinois and nationally the creation of commissions to examine campus safety issues as well prescriptions for improving security. One of the key questions guiding the research was whether any new preparedness steps were taken. This report frames many of the findings and implications within the context of the VT shootings because the research was focused on change pursuant to that tragedy. Data were collected beginning in April 2008 to study the changes campuses had pursued in the first year after the VT incident.
- Critical Incident Preparedness and Response on Campus: Examining the Relationship Between Local Law Enforcement and Post-Secondary Institutions in Illinois and the United States
Click on the logo to view Issues in Campus Attacks: Targeted Violence Affecting Institutions of Higher Education, April 2010 report in PDF.
Click on the '+' sign below to expand the category to view a summary of the report.
- FBI Report on Campus Attacks
- Campus Attacks: Targeted Violence Affecting Institutions of Higher Education
April 2010
By: Diana A. Drysdale, Lead Social Science Research Specialist, National Threat Assessment Center, United States Secret Service, William Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Department of Education, and Andre B. Simons, Supervisory Special Agent, Behavioral Analysis Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A JOINT MESSAGE FROM THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
In response to the Virginia Tech incident on April 16, 2007, former cabinet Secretaries Michael Leavitt and Margaret Spellings, and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales submitted the Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy dated June 13, 2007. The report included a recommendation that the U.S. Secret Service (Secret Service), the U.S. Department of Education, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) explore the issue of violence at institutions of higher education (IHEs). Accordingly, we initiated a collaborative effort to understand the nature of this violence and identify ways of preventing future attacks that would affect our nations colleges and universities.
This effort was implemented through the Secret Services National Threat Assessment Center, the Department of Educations Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, and the FBIs Behavioral Analysis Unit. The project drew from the Secret Services experience in studying threat assessment and the prevention of targeted violence; the Department of Educations expertise in helping schools facilitate learning through the creation of safe environments for students, faculty, and staff; and, the FBIs threat assessment and investigative expertise.
The goal of this collaborative endeavor was to understand the scope of the problem of targeted violence at IHEs. To that end, this report offers preliminary findings from a review of 272 incidents of violence that affected IHEs in the United States from 1900 through 2008. We addressed fundamental questions regarding where, when, and how these incidents occurred, and captured information concerning the offenders and their relationship to the IHEs. When possible, we also identified factors that may have motivated or triggered the attacks.
We strived to create a product that will be useful for threat assessment and campus safety professionals charged with identifying, assessing, and managing violence risk at IHEs. These law enforcement, mental health, student affairs, and legal professionals provide an incredible service under unique and often challenging circumstances. Ensuring the safety of college and university communitiessome of which resemble small citiesis a daunting task. Navigating the intricacies of privacy laws, preserving academic freedoms, complying with civil rights laws, and simultaneously ensuring a safe campus and workplace environment are tasks not easily accomplished. We hope that this preliminary report contributes to that effort.
- Campus Attacks: Targeted Violence Affecting Institutions of Higher Education
300 W. Adams St., Suite 200
Chicago IL 60606
Telephone (312) 793-8550
Fax (312) 793-8422
Jack Cutrone, Executive Director
Pat Quinn, Governor
© 2012 State of Illinois
cja.info@illinois.gov
