School crime is a vital concern, not only for students and faculty, but for administrators, policy makers, criminal justice personnel, and concerned citizens. Efforts to reduce crime and violence at schools have led many schools to adopt preventative strategies aimed at reducing actual crime and fear of crime. These measures include partnering with local police departments and implementing school resource officers, installing video cameras and closed circuit television systems, utilizing weapon-detection systems (e.g., metal detectors), and blocking/restricting access to school facilities with entry-control devices (e.g., electronic key cards). Recognizing these efforts and the limitations of prior research investigating school crime and safety measures, the current study examined the relationship between law enforcement (public or private) and school security measures on the incidence of violence and serious violence in schools using a nationally representative sample. Several key findings emerged. In particular, employing student resource officers and dealing with problems of bullying, racial tensions, student disrespect, and gangs appear promising in mitigating problems on high school campuses across the United States.

Prior research assessing police misconduct has generally focused on prevalence and demographic correlates while neglecting traditional criminological theories. Some recent research has begun to fill the void in this area, but the link between selfcontrol and police misconduct has yet to be explored. The current study utilizes a behavioral measure of self-control to evaluate the extent to which low self-control predicts police misconduct. Data from a sample of 1,935 police officers from the Philadelphia Police Department are analyzed, and the results generally indicate that low self-control is related to police misconduct. Specific findings, policy implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

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Although school crime and the use of security measures to combat school crime has been the focus of a number of prior empirical studies, there is substantially less information known about the relationship between school resource officers (SROs) and private security guards in schools and school crime. Using data from the 2006 School Survey on Crime and Safety, this study investigates the relationships among school characteristics and school crime with a particular focus on their differential effects across schools that utilize varying types of security personnel (e.g., no security, SROs only, or private security guards only) and use-of-force capabilities (e.g., oleoresin-capsicum spray/pepper spray, Tasers, and firearms). Results from a series of negative binomial regression models indicate that there is a considerable degree of variability in the effect of school characteristics on school crime across schools that utilize SROs only versus private security guards only. Additional results suggest that mid-level force capabilities are positively associated with school crime. Study limitations and implications are also discussed.

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