Date of Award
1992
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Clifford L. Shisler
Keywords
students, women
Abstract
Campus crime is an Important issue within the State University System of Florida. While the publication of campus crime data at Florida universities has taken place for almost twenty years, there has been an increase in public attention to this a. a, due primarily to media attention.
The problem addressed in this study was that the State University System did not have accurate and comprehensive information on crime statistics for Itself and its surrounding communities.
It was determined that given the national, state, and local Interests in the campus crime issue, decision-makers needed relevant data u n which to develop proactive security programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a campus security decision-making profile for use in the State University System of Florida that would include recommendations to enhance the overall security at Florida's universities.
For the purposes of this study, the research population included the main campus of each of the nine universities in the State University System of Florida. Also included were the nine cities adjacent to the universities and the nine counties surrounding the campuses. This exploratory study involved an analysis of previously collected crime data and other demographic Information. Crime rate and university police resource level comparisons were made. The z-test for the difference between proportions was used as appropriate. The level of significance was set at .05.
A summary of results obtained from this study and subsequent conclusions are as follows. Universities within the Florida State University System have experienced and probably will continue to experience a full range of criminal activities on their main campuses. Property crimes occur far more frequently than crimes of violence. The crime of larceny is by far the most frequently committed crime on Florida's university campuses. Systemwide, violent crimes comprise a relatively small proportion of overall crimes. However, crimes of violence must be given very serious attention by campus security decision-makers within the Florida State University System. Significant differences do exist between individual State university main campuses and the overall state University System and between individual main campuses regarding university police resource levels.
It may also be concluded from the study that there are significant differences between the rate of crime on some university main campuses when compared to the University System overall crime rate.
There are significant differences between the crime rate at individual state university main campuses and the corresponding rate for the conmunit.es in which they are located. In each set of comparisons, universities had crime rates lower than the surrounding communities.
Based upon a thorough review and analysis of the data gathered, a campus security decision-making profile has been developed. The profile can be used by decision-makers to evaluate and enhance the overall security at Florida's universities. As a result of this study, a model now exists that reflects collective data regarding crime trends, crime rates, and police resource ratios for use by decision-makers to enhance their overall campus security programs.