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Digest of Education Statistics: 2006
Digest of Education Statistics: 2006

NCES 2007-017
July 2007


Table 147. Number and percentage of public schools reporting crime incidents, by school characteristics and seriousness of crime incidents reported: 1999–2000 and 2003–04 
Type of crime All public schools, 1999–2000 2003–04
All public schools Instruction level of school Size of enrollment
Elementary Middle High Less than 300 300 to 499 500 to 999 1,000 or more
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of schools (in thousands) 82   (#) 80   (0.2) 49   (0.2) 14   (#) 11   (0.3) 19   (0.2) 24   (0.1) 29   (#) 9   (#)
Percent of schools with incident 86.4   (1.23) 88.5   (0.85) 83.3   (1.43) 96.5   (0.76) 98.6   (0.58) 79.7   (2.43) 88.1   (1.69) 91.3   (1.19) 99.1   (0.53)
Violent incidents2  71.4   (1.37) 81.4   (1.05) 74.2   (1.71) 93.6   (1.06) 95.9   (0.93) 68.8   (2.88) 80.2   (2.19) 85.8   (1.33) 97.5   (1.07)
Serious violent incidents3  19.7   (0.98) 18.3   (0.99) 13.3   (1.34) 24.4   (1.10) 29.4   (1.71) 15.3   (2.53) 14.8   (1.61) 17.5   (1.35) 36.3   (2.07)
Rape or attempted rape4  0.7   (0.10) 0.8   (0.17) #   (†) 1.0 ! (0.31) 3.4   (0.55)   (†) 0.5 ! (0.21) 0.4 ! (0.14) 3.6   (0.82)
Sexual battery other than rape5  2.5   (0.33) 3.0   (0.32)   (†) 6.4   (0.67) 9.2   (0.84)   (†) 0.8 ! (0.28) 3.3   (0.49) 10.6   (0.84)
Physical attack or fight6  with weapon7  5.2   (0.60) 4.0   (0.46) 3.0   (0.63) 4.2   (0.62) 7.9   (0.84) 4.4 ! (1.83) 2.1 ! (0.68) 3.5   (0.57) 9.8   (1.27)
Threat of attack with weapon7  11.1   (0.70) 8.6   (0.71) 7.0   (0.93) 11.8   (0.99) 11.6   (1.08) 6.4   (1.84) 6.7   (1.24) 8.9   (0.85) 17.7   (1.68)
Robbery8  with a weapon7  0.5 ! (0.15) 0.6   (0.15)   (†) 0.8 ! (0.27) 1.7   (0.43) #   (†)   (†) 0.5 ! (0.22) 2.7   (0.72)
Robbery8  without a weapon7  5.3   (0.56) 6.3   (0.60) 4.1   (0.78) 6.6   (0.80) 12.5   (1.23) 5.1   (1.45) 5.4   (1.02) 5.6   (0.81) 13.5   (1.27)
Physical attack or fight without a weapon 63.7   (1.52) 76.7   (1.21) 68.2   (1.94) 91.5   (1.16) 94.5   (1.00) 62.8   (3.05) 73.5   (2.34) 82.5   (1.58) 96.0   (1.24)
Threat of attack without weapon 52.2   (1.47) 53.0   (1.34) 45.4   (1.94) 67.8   (1.60) 71.4   (1.44) 37.6   (3.05) 52.3   (2.52) 56.1   (1.94) 77.0   (1.86)
                                                       
Theft/larceny9  45.6   (1.37) 46.0   (1.29) 29.8   (1.88) 63.3   (1.76) 83.5   (1.27) 40.5   (3.53) 33.8   (2.21) 48.9   (1.73) 80.7   (1.93)
                                                       
Other incidents10  72.7   (1.30) 64.0   (1.27) 50.8   (1.99) 82.9   (1.30) 93.0   (1.04) 50.7   (2.98) 59.6   (2.76) 67.2   (1.62) 93.3   (1.57)
Possess firearm/explosive device11  5.5   (0.44) 6.1   (0.49) 3.6   (0.66) 7.9   (0.83) 13.9   (1.41) 2.8 ! (1.11) 3.2   (0.89) 7.2   (0.82) 16.8   (1.78)
Possess knife or sharp object 42.6   (1.28) 15.9   (0.85) 11.1   (1.17) 25.0   (1.10) 29.4   (1.56) 9.5   (2.07) 10.3   (1.66) 18.0   (1.37) 37.8   (1.72)
Distribution of illegal drugs 12.3   (0.50) 12.9   (0.55) 1.5 ! (0.48) 26.6   (1.50) 44.4   (1.78) 3.5 ! (1.14) 6.3   (0.83) 13.8   (0.96) 47.3   (1.73)
Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs 26.6   (0.72) 29.3   (0.87) 6.3   (1.00) 55.7   (1.79) 84.7   (1.18) 16.1   (1.96) 19.1   (1.48) 31.0   (1.16) 78.9   (1.31)
Sexual harassment12  36.3   (1.26)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Vandalism13  51.5   (1.61) 51.4   (1.17) 42.2   (1.81) 65.1   (1.67) 74.5   (1.51) 37.6   (3.06) 47.9   (2.50) 54.3   (1.63) 80.4   (2.09)
Number of incidents (in thousands) 2,259   (117.0) 2,133   (79.4) 752   (53.9) 675   (46.4) 582   (22.2) 189   (22.7) 406   (48.4) 855   (40.7) 683   (23.9)
Violent incidents2  1,466   (103.7) 1,553   (73.5) 639   (51.0) 516   (44.7) 320   (17.5) 143   (19.7) 331   (47.2) 656   (37.9) 424   (20.4)
Serious violent incidents3  61   (7.0) 55   (4.7) 19   (3.0) 16   (2.2) 17   (2.0) 8   (2.4) 8   (2.1) 19   (2.1) 20   (2.6)
Rape or attempted rape4  1   (0.1) 1   (0.2) #   (†) #   (†) 1   (0.1) #   (†) #   (†) #   (†) #   (†)
Sexual battery other than rape5  4   (1.1) 5   (0.7) #   (†) 2   (0.5) 2   (0.5) #   (†) #   (†) 2   (0.3) 3   (0.7)
Physical attack or fight6  with weapon7  12   (2.5) 12   (2.3) 5   (1.5) 3 ! (1.0) 3 ! (1.0) 3 ! (1.6) 2 ! (0.8) 3   (0.9) 4   (1.1)
Threat of attack with weapon7  21   (1.9) 19   (2.6) 9   (2.1) 5   (1.0) 5   (1.1) 3 ! (1.0) 4 ! (1.8) 7   (2.0) 6   (1.2)
Robbery8  with a weapon7    (†) 1 ! (0.4) #   (†)   (†) 1 ! (0.2) #   (†) #   (†)   (†) 1 ! (0.2)
Robbery8  without a weapon7  20   (3.2) 16   (1.9) 5 ! (1.5) 4   (0.8) 5   (0.6) 2 ! (0.6) 2   (0.5) 6   (1.6) 6   (0.8)
Physical attack or fight without a weapon7  807   (59.6) 932   (39.4) 420   (36.4) 297   (14.4) 167   (6.9) 89   (12.6) 181   (17.1) 420   (26.4) 242   (10.7)
Threat of attack without weapon 599   (52.7) 566   (47.4) 199   (18.2) 203   (41.2) 136   (13.0) 45   (7.8) 141   (39.2) 217   (18.0) 163   (14.0)
                                                       
Theft/larceny9  218   (9.2) 200   (7.0) 36   (3.5) 54   (3.2) 94   (4.2) 18   (2.4) 25   (2.3) 68   (4.1) 88   (4.4)
                                                       
Other incidents1 0 575   (21.3) 380   (9.9) 78   (5.5) 105   (5.0) 168   (5.7) 28   (3.9) 51   (3.1) 131   (4.3) 170   (6.1)
Possess firearm/explosive device11  9   (2.2) 7   (0.6) 2   (0.4) 2   (0.3) 3   (0.3) 1 ! (0.2) 1   (0.3) 3   (0.4) 3   (0.4)
Possess knife or sharp object 86   (4.0) 30   (1.5) 9   (1.0) 9   (0.7) 11   (0.8) 2   (0.7) 4   (0.6) 11   (1.0) 13   (0.8)
Distribution of illegal drugs 28   (1.6) 33   (1.7) 1 ! (0.5) 8   (0.5) 21   (1.3) 1 ! (0.6) 2   (0.4) 9   (0.7) 20   (1.4)
Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs 114   (4.9) 131   (4.2) 6   (1.4) 30   (1.7) 83   (2.8) 7   (1.3) 13   (1.7) 37   (2.2) 75   (2.7)
Sexual harassment12  128   (6.1)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Vandalism13  211   (13.6) 179   (6.5) 61   (4.6) 55   (3.8) 51   (3.0) 17   (2.2) 31   (2.1) 72   (3.9) 60   (3.9)
Number of incidents per 100,000 students 4,849   (252.4) 4,568   (165.4) 3,324   (223.4) 6,894   (465.1) 5,004   (175.1) 4,827   (550.4) 4,163   (497.5) 4,365   (202.3) 5,082   (172.0)
Violent incidents2  3,147   (223.8) 3,326   (154.8) 2,821   (214.1) 5,271   (452.3) 2,751   (148.1) 3,644   (486.0) 3,385   (484.8) 3,348   (189.5) 3,157   (150.7)
Serious violent incidents3  130   (15.2) 118   (10.0) 84   (13.3) 160   (21.7) 144   (17.0) 208   (61.6) 86   (21.1) 95   (10.6) 149   (18.6)
Rape or attempted rape4  1   (0.2) 2   (0.3) #   (†) 2 ! (0.6) 5   (0.9)   (†) 2 ! (0.9) 1 ! (0.3) 3   (0.7)
Sexual battery other than rape5  9   (2.4) 12   (1.5)   (†) 24   (5.1) 21   (4.2)   (†) 2 ! (0.8) 8   (1.3) 24   (4.9)
Physical attack or fight6  with weapon7  26   (5.4) 26   (5.0) 22   (6.4) 35 ! (10.7) 29 ! (8.6) 83 ! (41.2) 16 ! (7.8) 18   (4.5) 29   (8.3)
Threat of attack with weapon7  45   (4.1) 41   (5.5) 38   (9.0) 51   (10.3) 39   (9.9) 67 ! (23.8) 42 ! (18.3) 35   (5.6) 41   (8.8)
Robbery8  with a weapon7    (†) 3 ! (0.9)   (†)   (†) 5 ! (1.5) #   (†)   (†)   (†) 5 ! (1.7)
Robbery8  without a weapon7  43   (6.8) 35   (4.0) 22 ! (6.8) 42   (8.1) 46   (5.3) 48 ! (16.8) 23   (5.5) 31   (8.0) 45   (6.1)
Physical attack or fight without a weapon 1,732   (128.8) 1,996   (82.1) 1,857   (154.7) 3,032   (141.9) 1,439   (55.4) 2,287   (315.7) 1,853   (174.8) 2,144   (131.6) 1,799   (79.5)
Threat of attack without weapon 1,285   (113.2) 1,212   (101.2) 880   (76.5) 2,079   (420.6) 1,168   (112.0) 1,148   (191.5) 1,446   (402.7) 1,109   (91.2) 1,210   (104.1)
                                                       
Theft/larceny9  468   (20.2) 428   (14.7) 157   (15.2) 553   (30.7) 807   (31.0) 473   (57.5) 253   (22.9) 349   (20.9) 658   (29.9)
                                                       
Other incidents10  1,234   (44.8) 814   (19.9) 346   (22.3) 1,069   (48.3) 1,446   (41.5) 710   (94.0) 524   (32.3) 668   (22.1) 1,267   (45.0)
Possess firearm/explosive device11  18   (4.8) 16   (1.3) 10   (1.8) 21   (2.8) 23   (2.7) 14 ! (5.4) 10   (2.6) 15   (1.9) 24   (2.9)
Possess knife or sharp object 184   (8.7) 65   (3.2) 38   (4.4) 94   (6.8) 92   (6.9) 62   (16.9) 38   (5.9) 56   (5.2) 98   (6.7)
Distribution of illegal drugs 59   (3.5) 70   (3.5) 5 ! (2.0) 83   (5.5) 178   (10.9) 38 ! (15.4) 25   (3.8) 45   (3.4) 148   (9.9)
Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs 245   (10.4) 281   (8.8) 26   (6.3) 308   (16.9) 717   (22.5) 169   (32.5) 137   (16.9) 188   (10.9) 555   (20.3)
Sexual harassment12  274   (13.0)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Vandalism13  453   (28.6) 382   (13.5) 268   (19.2) 564   (37.4) 435   (24.2) 427   (56.1) 315   (22.6) 365   (20.2) 443   (28.1)
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Some schools are omitted from these categories because of missing data on their school characteristics. For this reason, the detailed results do not sum to the totals.
2 Violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
3 Serious violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
4 Rape was defined for respondents as "forced sexual intercourse (vaginal, anal, or oral penetration). This includes penetration from a foreign object."
5 Sexual battery was defined for respondents as an "incident that includes threatened rape, fondling, indecent liberties, child molestation, or sodomy."
6 Physical attack or fight was defined for respondents as an "actual and intentional touching or striking of another person against his or her will, or the intentional causing of bodily harm to an individual."
7 Weapon was defined for respondents as "any instrument or object used with the intent to threaten, injure, or kill. Includes look-alikes if they are used to threaten others."
8 Robbery was defined for respondents as "the taking or attempting to take anything of value that is owned by another person or organization, under confrontational circumstances by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. A key difference between robbery and theft/larceny is that robbery involves a threat or battery."
9 Theft/larceny (taking things over $10 without personal confrontation) was defined for respondents as "the unlawful taking of another person's property without personal confrontation, threat, violence, or bodily harm. Included are pocket picking, stealing purse or backpack (if left unattended or no force was used to take it from owner), theft from a building, theft from a motor vehicle or motor vehicle parts or accessories, theft of bicycles, theft from vending machines, and all other types of thefts."
10 Other incidents include possession of a firearm or explosive device, possession of a knife or sharp object, distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, sexual harassment, or vandalism.
11 Firearm/explosive device was defined as "any weapon that is designed to (or may readily be converted to) expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. This includes guns, bombs, grenades, mines, rockets, missiles, pipe bombs, or similar devices designed to explode and capable of causing bodily harm or property damage."
12 Sexual harassment was defined for respondents as "unsolicited, offensive behavior that inappropriately asserts sexuality over another person. The behavior may be verbal or non-verbal."
13 Vandalism was defined for respondents as "the willful damage or destruction of school property including bombing, arson, graffiti, and other acts that cause property damage. Includes damage caused by computer hacking."
NOTE: Either the school principal or the person most knowledgeable about discipline issues at school completed the SSOCS questionnaire. If the respondent did not provide a value for the total number of specified incidents at the school, the value was imputed to equal the number of specified incidents reported to police. Values associated with violent incidents, serious violent incidents, total incidents, and other incidents were obtained by adding the post-imputed values that comprise each of the preceding composite variables. All public schools include elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and combined schools. The population counts on SSOCS 2000 and 2004 exclude all schools in outlying U.S. territories; nonregular schools such as special education, vocational, alternative/other, and ungraded schools; and schools with a high grade of kindergarten or lower. "At school/at your school" was defined for respondents as including activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that are holding school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to, unless the survey specified otherwise, only respond for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities/events were in session. Elementary schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not higher than grade 3 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 8. Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9. High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 12. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000 and 2004. (This table was prepared February 2007.)