Nearly all campus police officers at public universities now carry guns, pepper spray and other weapons, according to a new Justice Department report, and experts say more private schools are looking to arm police.
Overall, about two-thirds of public and private campuses used armed officers during the 2011-12 school year, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of 900 four-year colleges with at least 2,500 students. Officers at public universities were more than twice as likely as those at private schools to carry guns.
Despite the increase, schools aren’t required to report weapon use to federal authorities.
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“There was elevated concern revelers would get hurt or fall through the ice,” university spokesman Dan Hedman said. While officers made no arrests on campus, the investigation is ongoing, he said.
Law enforcement agencies at four-year schools with at least 2,500 students handled an average of five sexual assaults or other violent crimes in 2011, and 180 property crimes, including thefts and burglaries, according to the report, which cited data reported by colleges to the U.S. Department of Education under the federal Clery Act. The rate of violent crime was 27 percent lower in 2011 than in 2004, while the property crime rate dropped 35 percent, the report said.
