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…

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'…

Whether one likes to admit it or not, very few ever aspired to a long distinguished career as a campus public safety officer. Like cursing the sun for rising every morning, campus public safety chiefs continue to lament the departure of good performing employees, seemingly just as they come into their prime. Campus police and public safety…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between the total number of education code violations and the security personnel assigned by the school district. This study also proposed to examine factors such as socio-economic level of the district, the size of the district, and its location. Due to the increase in violence in…

An analysis of eleven state task force reports prompted by the tragic nature of the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 revealed that all shared a primary theme: no "single best way" to protect American college and university campuses yet exists. These documents, individually and collectively, make it clear that contemporary complex learning…

In the spring of 1999, 12 students and a teacher were killed by two gun-toting teenage boys at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, making school safety and security an overnight priority in communities across the nation. Many schools are starting to borrow security methods and technology from the business world such as video intercoms,…

The tragedies of Columbine and September 11th led public schools to step up surveillance practices in urban schools--producing an environment with less freedom and more control. While students are aware of the seeming powerlessness they face at the hands of security guards and surveillance technologies, they are also engaged in developing new ways…

Campus police forces operate under a difficult mandate of competing and conflicting goals. Officers are charged with protecting institutions whose basic mission is to provide a peaceful, open campus setting that encourages freedom of movement and expression. Campuses are generally unguarded and open to the general public and their buildings,…

This paper estimates risk reductions for each layer of security designed to prevent commercial passenger airliners from being commandeered by terrorists, kept under control for some time, and then crashed into specific targets. Probabilistic methods are used to characterize the uncertainty of rates of deterrence, detection, and disruption, as well…

The many Coast Salish groups distributed on both sides of the United States-Canada border on the Pacific coast today face significant obstacles to cross the international border, and in some cases are denied passage or intimidated into not attempting to cross. The current situation regarding travel by Aboriginal people reflects the…

Previous studies have demonstrated a dual-target cost in visual search. In the current study, the relationship between search for one and search for two targets was investigated to examine the effects of target prevalence and practice. Color-shape conjunction stimuli were used with response time, accuracy and signal detection measures. Performance…

Young people's "sexting"--defined by the "Macquarie Dictionary Online" (2010) as the sending and receiving of sexually explicit images via mobile phones--has become a focus of much media reporting; however, research regarding the phenomenon is in its infancy. This paper reports on the first phase of a study to understand this activity more…

This article describes part of a European Commission Leonardo project that aimed to design a multimedia course for English language learners seeking work as ground staff in European airports. The structural-functional analysis of the dialogues written from the course showed that, across the four trades explored (security guards, ground handlers,…

School resource officers (SROs) are police officers responsible for the daily task of keeping schools safe. The extent to which this goal is achieved depends in part on how SROs identify, assess, and respond to student threats of violence. This task is complicated by the lack of knowledge regarding the most effective ways of handling a threat so…

This article uses the School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey to investigate the factors related to White and African American students' perceived levels of fear of harm, while at school and while commuting to and from school. Of particular interest were the effects of school security measures, including metal detectors,…