Department of Education Department of Justice EMBARGOED UNTIL 9:00 A.M. EDT BJS 202/307-0703 OCTOBER 26, 2000 NCES 202/401-1579 CRIMES IN THE NATION'S SCHOOLS DECLINED IN THE 1990s ACCORDING TO DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE & EDUCATION WASHINGTON, D.C. Crime in the nation's schools decreased during the last seven years, according to a new report issued today by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The report, Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2000, indicates that between 1992 and 1998 violent victimization rates at schools dropped from 48 crimes per 1,000 students to 43 per 1,000. The percentage of students who said they were victims of crimes (including either theft or violent crimes) at school decreased between 1995 and 1999 from 10 percent to 8 percent. Between 1993 and 1997 students in grades 9 through 12 who reported carrying a gun, knife or other weapon on school property during the previous 30 days dropped from 12 percent to 9 percent, a 25 percent reduction. During 1998, students aged 12 through 18 were victims of more than 2.7 million crimes at school, including about 253,000 serious violent crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault). In comparison, there were 550,000 such serious crimes away from school. The new report indicates there were 60 violent deaths at school between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998, including 47 homicides, 12 suicides and 1 teenager killed by a police officer in the line of duty. Between 1993 and 1997, the percentage of 9th through 12th grade students who were threatened or injured with a weapon of any sort on school property remained constant between 7 and 8 percent. Additionally, the percentage of those students who reported being in a physical fight on school property was unchanged during the same period. During the 1994-1998 period, teachers were the victims of 1,755,000 crimes at school, including 1,087,000 thefts and 668,000 serious violent crimes. This amounts to 83 crimes per 1,000 teachers annually. The report is the third in a series of annual reports from the Justice Department and the Department of Education and contains the most recent available data from a number of federally funded studies related to school crime and safety. Thus, the time periods covered by the different indicators vary. The report is organized as a series of indicators, with each indicator presenting data on a different aspect of school crime and safety. This year's report repeats many indicators from the 1999 report, but also provides updated data on fatal and nonfatal student victimization, nonfatal teacher victimization, students' perceptions of safety and the presence of gangs, and students' avoidance of places at school. In addition, the report is referenced in the third Annual Report on School Safety, also released today and jointly produced by the Departments of Justice and Education. The third Annual Report on School Safety can be found on the Internet at http://www.ed.gov.office/OESE/SDFS or by calling 1-877/4ED-PUBS. Single copies of Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2000 may be obtained from the BJS fax-on-demand system by dialing 301/519-5550, listening to the menu, and selecting document number 220 for the executive summary and 221 for the press release, by calling the BJS Clearinghouse at 1-800/732-3277, or by calling ED Pubs at 1-877/4ED-PUBS. After 9:00 a.m. October 26 the full report may be downloaded from the Internet at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ or from http://nces.ed.gov Additional criminal justice materials can be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs homepage at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov The Department of Education's media contact is David Thomas at 202/401-1579. The Department of Justice's media contact is David Hess at 202/305-0779. # # # BJS00229 After hours contact: David Hess at: 888/763-8943