‘How Safe Is Your Campus?’ Survey Results: Universities

Police/security department staffing levels pose significant challenges, while administrator support for overall campus public safety is very high.

November 01, 2010 Robin Hattersley

Note: This is the first installment of exclusive research featured in the Campus Safety Yearbook. Results for K-12 and hospital campuses, as well as technology and officer salaries will be released on CampusSafetyMagazine.com throughout the month of November.

Nearly half of university/college police or security departments don’t have enough staff or weapons to appropriately respond to incidents, according to Campus Safety magazine’s “How Safe Is Your Campus?” survey. That said, four in five say their institutions’ top administrators take public safety seriously.

Results from the exclusive survey, which also cover wages, officer morale, active shooter/bomber response preparedness, sexual assault policy, alcohol policy, resources and emergency management issues, appear in the publication’s second annual Yearbook.

View “How Safe Is Your Campus?” Survey Results: Universities

Some highlights from the study include:

One in three respondents say their police and/or security personnel aren’t paid a fair wage for their duties.
35 percent either disagree somewhat or strongly with the statement: “If an active shooter or bomber came onto my campus, my department and my institution would be able to respond effectively.”
More than four in five (82%) strongly agree or agree somewhat that their departments’ relationships with other jurisdictions are well developed and fully functional.

Administrators Take Campus Public Safety Seriously

A significant percentage of college and university respondents indicate they are receiving good support from campus administration. Four out of five (80 percent) say their top administrators take safety and security on campus seriously, and 65 percent say they have enough authority to carry out their responsibilities appropriately. Still, that leaves more than one in four who either disagree somewhat or strongly with the statement: “I have enough authority to do my job well.”

Lack of resources is another challenge, which, in light of the current economic recession, it’s not surprising. Two in five say their institutions don’t dedicate enough money, resources and personnel to campus safety and security efforts and technology. Still, 60 percent expect that the same or more resources will be dedicated to safety and security in 2011.

Emergency Preparedness Gets High Marks

University respondents generally express a high level of satisfaction with most aspects of their campus’ emergency management programs.

Hazmat incident preparedness is the one significant weakness, however. Nearly a third of respondents (29 percent) either disagree somewhat or strongly with the statement “My campus is adequately prepared for a hazmat incident.” One in five survey takers are not satisfied with their institution’s emergency/crisis plans (20 percent) or weather emergency/ natural disaster preparedness (21 percent).

View “How Safe Is Your Campus?” Survey Results: Universities

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About the Author

Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief

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Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.