Revenue allocation towards ensuring student and staff safety at public state-funded colleges and universities in Virginia. How much does it affect crime on campus?
Background:
In 2007, 32 people were killed by one gunman at Virginia Tech University (cite news article). This was, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting in US history (cite source). The Virginia Tech shootings made national news and opened the eyes of many to the dangers of mass shootings on college/university campuses. The United States Department of Education conducted an audit of Virginia Tech based on the Jeanne Clery Act and found the university in violation. Virginia Tech was charged with a total of $32.500.00 dollars in fines, as they 1.) failed to warn the campus of the shooter being on the loose at the time of the shootings, and 2.) had inconsistent policies concerning timely warnings of safety threats and failed to disclose one of those policies to the Department of Education (FSA/USDOE, 2008) (cite source).
Colleges and Universities had been required to report crime statistics, as well as safety policies to the US Department of Education since the enactment of the Clery Act in 1990 (cite source).; However, many schools have committed violations of the act in a similar fashion since that time and through the present. This includes schools in Virginia.
Traditionally, revenue at colleges and universities is placed towards academics, salaries, and physical upkeep and/or beautification of the campus itself. Funding for safety (police or security officers and equipment, as well as other safety mechanisms, such as lighting and surveillance), is low in the hierarchy of campus spending (cite source).
This puts campus police/security departments at a disadvantage, as they generally have smaller budgets than their counterparts in municipalities of similar size and/or population density. Most of the general public has no idea that some university campuses have populations the size of small cities. Should the people who live and work on these campuses be subject to lesser protections?
Research Question
Is revenue being properly allocated towards ensuring student and staff safety at public state-funded colleges and universities in Virginia? How much does it affect crime on campus?
Research is needed to show that closer attention should be paid to the allotment of greater amounts of money to safety and security on public, state-funded college/university campuses in Virginia. We will do this by showing that campus crime is directly related to the amount of cooperation and funding afforded to their campus police/security departments. We will:
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Computer Science
- Research Topics