Scholars have explored ways in which school shooting events have impacted students' perception of safety. However, less is known on whether the effects of school shootings are stable across time and event. This study uses data collected through the Delaware School Survey before and after three school shootings, Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech…

Following the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, policymakers have sought ways to improve safety on college and university campuses nationwide. Among the more recent proposals is to permit concealed handgun licensees to carry on campus. To date, eight states have enacted legislation implementing this measure. A limited body of research considers the…

Zero tolerance as an approach to school safety has been around for almost 3 decades. Despite widespread criticisms of zero tolerance policies, few empirical studies have investigated the relationship of zero tolerance with school safety. More generally, the Government Accountability Office report on school shootings noted the need for research on…

National debate over law enforcement in schools has largely overlooked student reporting of violent threats to school resource officer (SROs). This statewide assessment of Virginia high school students (n = 99,358) found that the majority of Black (64%), Hispanic (72%), White (71%), and other racial/ethnic identity (71%) students agreed the SRO…

Controversy surrounding sex discrimination and sexual misconduct in higher education has existed now for over 50 years. Title IX is the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funds. This Report examines the evolving understanding of sex discrimination in higher education over the years, as well as the mechanisms that…

This study examined Virginia community college students' perceptions of campus safety. A survey of 11,161 students revealed the crimes students most feared being a victim of while on the community college campus and the areas in which they felt the most and least safe. The research also demonstrated the effect of certain variables had on students'…

This research examined Virginia community college students' perceptions of campus safety. A survey of 11,161 students revealed the crimes students most feared being a victim of while on the community college campus and the areas in which they felt the most and least safe. The research also demonstrated the effect certain variables had on students'…

Threat assessment has been widely recommended as a violence prevention approach for schools, but there are few empirical studies of its use. This nonexperimental study of 280 Virginia public high schools compared 95 high schools using the Virginia threat assessment guidelines (Cornell & Sheras, 2006), 131 following other (i.e., locally…

The recent shootings at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) shocked the nation and brought violence on college campuses to the forefront of the nation's attention. We surveyed college students and faculty/staff three weeks after the incident about their perceptions of the Virginia Tech shooting, subsequent media exposure, and school…

This report presents findings from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services ongoing evaluation of local School Resources Office (SRO) programs. Evaluation data were obtained from 3,244 Student Incident Reports (SIR), a survey of 2,067 school staff, a survey of 11,864 middle school and high school students, and 104 SRO quarterly…

This evaluation report is the second publication from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services' (DCJS) ongoing evaluation of the Virginia School Resource Officer (SRO) program. The findings are based on data submitted by 78 local SRO programs, all of which were awarded grants of federal or state monies from DCJS. The findings are…