Data were collected through the BJS 2011-2012 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies. In preparation for the survey, a universe list of 4-year and 2-year campuses was compiled using the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The survey focused primarily on agencies serving 4-year institutions with 2,500 or more students. In addition, 2-year institutions with 2,500 or more students and a sample of 4-year institutions with 1,000 to 2,499 students were surveyed. Data were collected on personnel, functions, expenditures and pay, operations, equipment, computers and information systems, community policing activities, specialized units, and emergency preparedness activities.

The 2011–12 survey was initially conducted as a web-only data collection. Later follow-up efforts provided respondents with fax and mail-in response options. The final overall response rate was 90% for the core survey group of agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students, with 776 of 861 potential respondents completing either the long or short version of the survey questionnaire.

For agencies not responding to the long or short version of the survey questionnaire, 2 additional versions of the survey were added: a critical items version and a basic personnel version.

The final data set for agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students includes 456 agencies that completed the long version of the survey questionnaire, 320 agencies that completed the short version, 22 agencies that completed the critical items version, and 63 agencies that provided only the basic personnel counts.

Campus crime statistics were compiled using data from the BJS survey, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, and the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Security Statistics Website at http://ope.ed.gov/security/index.asp.