Abstract:
Since its enactment in 1990, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act has been the primary rule governing the management of security on the campuses of institutions of higher education. Although crime has decreased on college campuses in the quarter century since its first implementation, research has repeatedly shown that the standard has not achieved all its intended goals. In addition, this standard is frequently cited as burdensome by both the institutions that it regulates as well as other governmental agencies. With this failure to meet goals as well as its identified cumbersome nature in mind, this research has focused on the one-size fits all nature of the standard to determine if the historical data indicates that there is a reason for including institutions without on campus housing under the full requirements of the Clery Act. To examine if there is a reason for continued inclusion, quantitative research was conducted using secondary data obtained from the U. S. Department of Education. This data was utilized to test six Research Hypotheses focused on determining if there is a difference in the crime rates experienced by the group of institutions with on campus housing and the group of institutions without. This hypothesis testing overwhelmingly indicated that there was a difference in the crime rates experienced by these two groups of institutions except for the crimes of: 1) robbery; 2) motor vehicle theft; 3) hate crimes. This difference of crime rates suggest that policymakers should examine the need for inclusion of institutions without on campus housing in future revisions of the Clery Act.
Keyword 1: Clery Act
Keyword 2: Crime Statistics
Keyword 3: Higher Education
Keyword 4: On campus housing
Keyword 5: Crime Rates
Keyword 6: Annual Security Report