While prior work has explored the relationship between career-focused educational programming on deviant and criminal behavior for incarcerated and delinquent individuals, there is little empirical evidence as to how career and technical education (CTE) participation in traditional high school settings may link to later interaction with the…

With the tragedies of school violence igniting calls for increased safety and security, one popular proposal is to use metal detectors in schools. To address questions about what impact such devices may have on day-to-day safety and on what happens during school violence events, this research brief summarizes what is known about metal detectors in…

On average, 205,000 U.S. residents report being victims of hate crimes every year, according to Department of Justice (DOJ) officials. Hate crimes, including those motivated by bias against an actual or perceived religion, can have a broader effect than other kinds of violent crimes because they target both the victim and the group the victim…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have implemented to promote school safety. SSOCS collects information from public school principals about the prevalence of violent and serious violent crimes…

School violence has become a focal point, sparked by violent mass killings throughout the nation. One of the most substantial efforts for improving school safety and security is the utilization of specially trained police, titled school resource officers (SROs). Regardless of the importance of maintaining safe schools and an environment that is…

The right of children to be protected from abuse is grounded in international law. Children should be free to enjoy their childhoods and to engage with their physical environment without fear for their safety. In recent years, girls and women in Jamaica have been targeted by men who rape and/or otherwise sexually assault them. This is without…

This report presents findings on crime and violence in U.S. public schools, using data from the 2015-16 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS:2016). First administered in school year 1999-2000 and repeated in school years 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, and 2015-16, SSOCS provides information on school crime-related topics from the…

The nation could save as much as $18.5 billion in annual crime costs if the high school male graduation rate increased by only 5 percentage points, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education finds. This report examines and builds upon research that links lower levels of educational attainment with higher rates of arrests and…

Recent police shootings in which multiple officers fired numerous rounds at suspects have led some observers to assert that such situations involve "contagious fire," where an initial officer's shots launch a cascade of gunfire from other officers present. Although there is anecdotal recognition of the contagious fire phenomenon among…

This brief discusses the findings of the Fourth Federal National Incidence Study on Child Maltreatment (NIS 4), which reports a significant reduction in the overall rate of child maltreatment since the 1993 NIS. The study reflects substantial drops in the rates of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. However, no significant changes…

The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The national YRBS is conducted every two years during the spring semester and provides data representative of 9th through 12th grade…

Background: This study integrated criminological and public health perspectives to examine the influence of bullying victimization and the school environment on physical activity (PA). Methods: We used a weighted sample of 7786 US middle school students surveyed as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study to conduct a multilevel…

The Safe Start demonstration projects, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) under the first phase of the Safe Start initiative, are primarily designed to influence change at the systems or macrolevels to reduce the incidence of and impact of exposure to violence for children aged birth to 6 years; direct…

Racial bias in traffic enforcement has become a popular line of inquiry, but examinations into explanations for the disparity have been scant. The current research integrates theoretical insights from the racial threat hypothesis with inferences drawn from the empirical analyses of the factors that stimulate officer suspicion. The most intriguing…

The authors examined a strategic policing initiative that was implemented in a high crime Nashville, Tennessee neighborhood by utilizing a mixed-methodological evaluation approach in order to provide (a) a descriptive process assessment of program fidelity; (b) an interrupted time-series analysis relying upon generalized linear models; (c)…