The Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA) has been conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) periodically since 1994. It collects data on agency personnel, functions, technology and communication, training, and equipment and techniques. To ensure reliability of national estimates, the 2021 SCLEA was conducted as a census of campus law enforcement agencies serving 4-year and 2-year institutions offering in-person instruction with more than 1,000 full-time students.
Comparisons of the 2021 SCLEA data from previous years are limited to 4-year institutions with 2,500 or more students because this is the only group that has been consistently included across all SCLEA iterations. More information on the methodology for previous SCLEA surveys can be found in prior reports on the BJS website.
The frame for the 2021 SCLEA survey was compiled using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). From this system, BJS identified all 4-year and 2-year institutions offering in-person instruction with more than 1,000 full-time students. Law enforcement agency contact information was derived from the BJS Law Enforcement Agency Roster (LEAR) database, a list of all publicly funded law enforcement agencies operating in the United States. The LEAR is compiled from a variety of sources, including the 2008, 2014, and 2018 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies. The LEAR undergoes periodic updates to capture newly created agencies and to remove closed agencies and agencies that are no longer in scope.
The initial 2021 SCLEA frame included 1,954 campus law enforcement agencies. SCLEA agencies were further categorized into groups, or strata, based on full-time student enrollment (1,000 to 2,499 students or 2,500 or more students), institution funding type (public or private), and institution type (4-year or 2-year).
After completing the 2021 SCLEA survey, 171 agencies were determined to be ineligible based on their responses, which indicated that they did not operate a campus law enforcement agency, they operated under the central administrative structure of another agency, or they did not employ at least one full-time equivalent sworn officer or nonsworn operations personnel. After removing these agencies, the final count of eligible campus law enforcement agencies was 1,783.
A total of 1,506 campus law enforcement agencies submitted their SCLEA questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 84.5%. Submitted surveys were considered complete if at least 66% of the questionnaire was filled out. A total of 1,429 campus law enforcement agencies completed SCLEA questionnaires, for an overall completion rate of 80.1%.
