2021_SCLEA_OMB_Part_A_v4

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

2021 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA)

Overview

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) requests clearance to conduct the 2021 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA). The 2021 SCLEA builds upon the previous three iterations of the SCLEA data collections in 1994-1995, 2004-2005, and 2011-2012 (OMB Control Number 1121-0334). The proposed information collection includes all campus law enforcement agencies (LEAs) serving public and private postsecondary educational institutions offering in-person instruction with a full-time enrollment of 1,000 or more students. BJS plans to field the 2021 SCLEA from late September 2021 to mid-May 2022 with approximately 2,100 campus LEAs.

Through SCLEA, BJS measures changes in the staffing and operations of campus LEAs. By comparing changes in this content over time, BJS can describe how the landscape of campus law enforcement has changed. For example, among the agencies contacted for both the 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 SCLEA, the percentage using sworn officers increased from 75% to 77% and the percentage using armed officers increased from 68% to 75%. The number of full-time employees in these agencies increased by 16% during the 7-year period between these two survey waves. This included a 10% increase in the number of full-time sworn personnel. During this same time period, the collective enrollment of students on these campuses increased by 11%.¹

Elements of campus policing have changed significantly since the last iteration of SCLEA was conducted during the 2011-2012 school year (hereafter referred to as the 2011 SCLEA). The proposed survey seeks to capture information on new and emerging topics in campus law enforcement while maintaining the ability to measure trends over time with the previous SCLEA waves. To increase representativeness, the 2021 SCLEA will be a census of public and private postsecondary educational institutions with 1,000 or more students, whereas previous waves sampled agencies from smaller institutions.

SCLEA is part of BJS’s law enforcement statistics program. This program has traditionally emphasized surveys of organizations about the operations of the criminal justice system, consistent with BJS’s authorizing statute (34 USC § 10132(c)(4)). Core to BJS’s effort in describing the operations of law enforcement agencies are the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA; OMB Control Number 1121-0346) conducted regularly since 1992, and the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) Survey (OMB Control Number 1121-0240) conducted every 3-4 years since 1987. The SCLEA serves to complement these core law enforcement data collections.

The CSLLEA has been conducted approximately every four years since 1992 and is an enumeration of all publicly funded state, county, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in the United States. It provides personnel counts for the approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies operating nationally. This includes campus law enforcement agencies, but only those serving public educational institutions; it does not include campus law enforcement agencies serving private educational institutions. The CSLLEA also asks what type of entity operates the agency and provides the basis for distinguishing among various types of agencies by asking about the functions they perform (e.g., patrol and response, investigative, and traffic and vehicle-related functions).

Through LEMAS, which has been conducted 11 times since 1987, BJS captures more detailed information about the organizational structure and operations of general-purpose law enforcement agencies, including personnel, budgets, salaries, operations, vehicles, equipment, information systems, policies, and use of technology. The CSLLEA serves as the frame and a nationally representative sample of approximately 3,500 general-purpose agencies is selected to participate in LEMAS.

BJS uses SCLEA to complement the information obtained through CSLLEA and LEMAS. From CSLLEA, BJS has data on staffing and functions from campus LEAs serving public postsecondary educational institutions. BJS uses the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to ensure the SCLEA frame is complete. IPEDS is the most comprehensive data collection effort in postsecondary education and provides a complete list of postsecondary institutions in the U.S. Using IPEDS allows BJS to identify campus agencies serving public institutions that may not have been included in the most recent CSLLEA and also provides BJS with a list of campus agencies serving private institutions since this agency type does not fall within the CSLLEA universe.

Campus law enforcement agencies are a type of special purpose agency. LEMAS is administered only to general-purpose LEAs and therefore campus LEAs are not eligible for LEMAS. The SCLEA survey closely resembles the LEMAS survey so as to collect detailed information about the organization and characteristics of campus LEAs, allowing BJS to provide national statistics on a wide variety of topics within campus law enforcement. By closely aligning the SCLEA survey with the LEMAS survey, BJS will be able to provide a national picture of campus law enforcement that is comparable to that provided for general-purpose law enforcement agencies.

In previous iterations of SCLEA, BJS has employed different sample designs. In each of the three previous waves, BJS conducted a census of a core group of agencies which consisted of those serving public and private 4-year institutions with 2,500 or more students. In 1994-1995, the response rate was 85% among the core group. In addition to the core group in 1994-1995, completed surveys were received from campus law enforcement agencies at 112 U.S. 4-year institutions with at least 1,000 but fewer than 2,500 students, 90 U.S. 2-year colleges, 32 U.S. graduate and professional schools, and 31 Canadian 4-year colleges and universities. These respondents were all members of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) who volunteered to participate in the survey.

In 2004-2005, in addition to the core group, BJS also conducted a census of agencies serving 2-year colleges with 10,000 or more students. The response rate was 81% within the core group and 82% overall (Table 1). The data collection was further expanded for the 2011 wave, including a census of agencies serving 2-year institutions with 2,500 or more students and a representative sample of agencies serving 4-year institutions with 1,000 to 2,499 students. The response rate was 90% in the census of the core group of campus LEAs.

Table 1. Response rates for 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 SCLEA

Student enrollment	2004-2005 response rates	2011-2012 response rates
Overall response rate	82%	89%
4-year with 2,500 or more (core)	81%	90%
4-year with 1,000 – 2,499	N/A	84%
2-year	88%	90%
10,000 or more	88%	89%
2,500 - 9,999	N/A	91%

During the course of review of the 2011 SCLEA data, BJS identified concerns about the sample design for the non-core group of institutions. A stratified sampling approach was used for the non-core institutions, with small (1,000 – 2,499 students) public 4-year schools selected with certainty while private institutions were sampled randomly. Stratification for 2-year schools was done by size rather than institutional control, with large schools (10,000 or more students) selected with certainty and smaller schools sampled randomly. Issues with the sampling frame were discovered during data analysis, such as institutions that were classified incorrectly. Frame inaccuracies and changes to the frame led to weighting issues and ultimately the issues with these data were not resolved.

Given the issues encountered and BJS’s inability to produce reasonably precise estimates for smaller institutions from the 2011 SCLEA, the 2021 SCLEA will be a census of 2-year and 4-year institutions with 1,000 or more students. BJS estimates that 2,067 institutions meet these criteria.

BJS conducted an expert panel meeting in July 2020 with 10 campus law enforcement practitioners and researchers. These experts reviewed the 2011 SCLEA instrument and, based on their feedback, BJS drafted the 2021 SCLEA instrument. BJS then conducted cognitive interviews on the 2021 SCLEA instrument (OMB 1121-0339) in April and May 2021. A total of 14 campus LEAs serving institutions of different types and sizes participated in the cognitive testing. Based on participant feedback, questions and instructions were clarified and several items were consolidated to reduce burden. These changes are discussed further in Section 5.

A. Justification

1. Necessity of Information Collection

Under Title 34, United States Code, Section 10132 (Attachment 1), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is directed to collect and analyze statistical information concerning the operation of the criminal justice system at the federal, state, and local levels. Campus law enforcement agencies are the most common special-purpose LEAs in the U.S.

According to the 2008 CSLLEA, 44% of special-jurisdiction LEAs were serving 4-year public universities and 2-year colleges. The most recent estimates from NCES show that as of fall 2019, over 20 million students were enrolled in approximately 6,000 postsecondary institutions² and these institutions employed approximately four million people.³ Campus law enforcement agencies are responsible for providing safety and law enforcement services to many of these institutions and their students and faculty. In 2019, about 35,000 criminal offenses, 17,600 acts of violence against women, 2,000 hate crimes, and 39,000 arrests were reported on college campuses.⁴

Campus LEAs perform many of the same functions as traditional LEAs, including routine patrol, investigations, and traffic control. For example, the 2011 SCLEA found that over 90% of sworn and non-sworn staff at 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students performed parking enforcement and dispatched calls for service. Campus LEAs must also be prepared for critical incidents such as mass shootings, protests and counter protests, and natural disasters. For example, in 2011, nearly one-quarter of sworn campus LEAs at 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students performed bomb/explosive disposal or detection, and a similar proportion performed tactical operations (SWAT).¹

Furthermore, these agencies face challenges unique to the campus setting; political discussion, freedom of speech, and other types of activism are encouraged on campuses and could be considered an essential part of academic life. As such, policing in these areas must be sensitive to free expression, the local context, and the needs of a diverse constituency.

The 2021 SCLEA encompasses a wide range of topics to provide a robust national picture of campus LEAs. As mentioned previously, the SCLEA covers a number of campus law enforcement organizational topics including personnel, duties and functions, administration, technology and communication, officer selection and training, equipment, problem management, and jurisdiction and joint efforts. The majority of these items have been asked on past SCLEA surveys and will allow for trend comparisons.

Some questions in the 2011 SCLEA did not make it into the 2021 SCLEA instrument due to poor past performance and recommendations from the expert panel and cognitive testing. Some content was determined to be out of date, some questions led to inconsistent reporting in the last wave, and some items needed to be dropped in order to decrease the overall burden. Based on recommendations from the expert panel meeting, a number of questions in the personnel, functions, and technology sections were modified. Additionally, the expert panel recommended removing some administration and technology questions they found to be outdated or of minimal utility.

The 2011 SCLEA long form served as the starting point for the 2021 SCLEA instrument. Modifications were made based on recommendations from the expert panel, results from cognitive interviewing, and BJS priorities. Following is a description of the questionnaire, which consists of 42 questions across eight sections (Attachment 2).

2021 SCLEA Survey Content

Institutional Information (2 items)

This section asks the respondent for their contact information along with the campus(es) for which they are reporting. It is important to know if the agency is responsible for a single campus or multiple campuses to help inform the national estimate of campus law enforcement agencies.

Agency Information (2 items)

This section asks who employed the officers that provided routine law enforcement services (Q3) and security for special events (Q4) on campus. This serves as an eligibility check in that if the institution does not have a campus police or security agency, the respondent is directed to stop the survey and return the questionnaire; otherwise, the respondent is directed to continue to the next section.

Personnel Information (2 items)

The first item in this section captures details on the personnel employed by the campus LEA by sworn status, type of employment (full- or part-time), and primary job responsibility (Q5). The primary job responsibilities listed largely follow the 2020 LEMAS with some additions that are specific to campus LEAs (contract staff and student support staff). The second item in this section collects race, Hispanic origin, and sex of full-time sworn officers (Q6). These personnel questions collect much more detailed information than the 2011 SCLEA and will allow BJS to provide a more complete description of personnel employed by campus LEAs.

Personnel Duties and Functions (4 items)

The first item in this section asks campus LEAs if they are primarily responsible for selected security, vehicle-related, public safety, and other specialized functions (Q7). This section also contains questions on the types of facilities and events for which the campus LEA is responsible (Q8 and Q9) and the level of routine patrol coverage provided by the agency at different times during the year (Q10).

Administration (4 items)

This section contains questions on the campus LEA’s operating budget (Q11) and salary information for specified full-time positions within the agency (Q12). Also included are questions about special pay and benefits for full-time personnel by sworn status (Q13) and whether there were any external agreements in place between unions and nonsupervisory staff (Q14).

Technology and Communication (8 items)

This section contains questions on the types of technology and methods of communication used by campus LEAs, including ‘blue-light’ systems (Q15), emergency telephone systems (Q16 and Q17), and mass notification systems (Q18 and Q19). Campus LEAs are also asked about other technologies and their capabilities and uses, such as technologies used for law enforcement or investigative purposes (Q20 – Q22).

Officer Selection and Training Requirements (5 items)

This section first asks campus LEAs about their minimum education requirement by sworn status and whether military service is an exemption to the requirement (Q23a-b). Also included in this section are questions about screening techniques used to select recruits (Q24) along with academy, field, and in-service training requirements (Q25 – Q26). The final item in this section asks the campus LEA about Active Shooter training (Q27).

Equipment and Techniques (3 items)

This section asks about firearms, other weapons, and techniques that were authorized for use by the campus LEA’s sworn officers (Q28 and Q29) along with vehicles that the campus LEA operates (Q30).

Problem Management (12 items)

This section first asks about partnerships with a variety of common campus organizations, other law enforcement agencies, and other local programs and officials (Q31). This section also includes questions on programs and activities in which the campus LEA engages (Q31 and Q36) and specifically asks about preparedness planning activities (Q33). Also included are questions on the use of student patrols (Q34) and a campus safety escort service (Q37). This section also asks campus LEAs how they address a variety of issues, be it with a specialized unit with full-time personnel or in some other manner (Q35). This section also asks how many complaints were received by current disposition status (Q38). Additionally, this section covers arrest and patrol jurisdiction for sworn officers (Q39) and patrol jurisdiction for non-sworn personnel (Q40). Lastly, there is a question about the existence of a written agreement with other types of agencies (Q41) and a question about the existence of formal policies on topics such as hate crimes and gender-based offenses (Q42).

The 2021 SCLEA instrument will be sent to all campus law enforcement agencies with a full-time student enrollment of at least 1,000 students. The data collection will be administered for a period of almost 8 months, beginning in late September 2021 and continuing through mid-May 2022.

2. Needs and Uses

BJS employs various methods to capture data to better understand the criminal justice system. For example, BJS captures data on crime from resident surveys, inmate surveys, and the collection of administrative data. Data collections on agency characteristics are primarily conducted through establishment surveys, and this is the primary data collection vehicle for the law enforcement core collections. The SCLEA is the only systematic establishment survey that produces national estimates of personnel, resources, policies, and practices of campus law enforcement agencies, which are the most common type of special purpose law enforcement agency in the U.S.

BJS Needs and Uses

Without SCLEA, BJS will be unable to describe the number and types of officers in campus LEAs and to report to the nation the activities and functions these agencies perform. In addition, this survey provides BJS with systematic knowledge about the resources, policies practices, and organizational responses used to meet the challenges faced by contemporary campus LEAs. Comparisons of the 2021 SCLEA data with those from prior SCLEA surveys will also provide important information on how campus LEAs have changed over time, including the adoption of new technology, changes in training requirements, adopting community policing practices and changing diversity in campus law enforcement.

The list below details the type of information that will be available through the 2021 SCLEA data:

• Number of full-time and part-time sworn officers and non-sworn employees by task scope (e.g., administration, operations, and support)

• Sex and race or ethnicity of full-time sworn officers

• Percentage of agencies with primary responsibility for specific functions

• Percentage of agencies with primary responsibility for on-site security for specific facilities and events

• Percentage of agencies operating a temporary holding cell or facility

• Percentage of agencies with routine patrol coverage, by type of patrol coverage and type of officer

• Average total operating budget

• Average base and maximum salaries by position type

• Percentage of agencies using special pay

• Percentage of agencies with external agreements between employee representative organizations and nonsupervisory full-time personnel

• Percentage of agencies with a blue-light or equivalent emergency phone system

• Percentage of agencies participating in an enhanced 9-1-1 system

• Percentage of agencies serving campuses with various types of mass notification systems

• Percentage of agencies using selecting technologies for law enforcement or investigative purposes

• Percentage of agencies with a campus public safety radio system that was interoperable with local first responders

• Percentage of agencies with a mass notification system by enrollment group and type

• Percentage of agencies using computers or electronic devices for selected functions

• Prevalence of educational requirements for new officers

• Percentage of agencies that employ specific pre-employment screening techniques

• Average academy, field, and in-service training hours

• Percentage of agencies covering specific topics during in-service training

• Percentage of agencies with plans to conduct active shooter training during the academic year

• Percentages of agencies that authorize the use of specific kinds of weapons or force actions

• Percentage of agencies operating specific motorized vehicles or equipment

• Percentage of agencies with a formal written agreement or informal problem-solving partnership with specific groups

• Percentage of agencies with plan to conduct preparedness planning activities

• Percentage of agencies using foot patrols on campus for specific functions

• Prevalence of specialized units designed to address specific problems

• Percent of agencies with campus safety escort services

• Prevalence of civilian complaints by disposition status

• Percent of agencies with arrest and patrol jurisdiction by type of jurisdiction

• Percent of agencies with an active agreement with other types of agencies

• Percent of agencies with a formal policy on specific offenses and topics

These characteristics can be disaggregated to produce estimates by institution type (public/private and 2-year/4-year institutions) and institution size (full-time student enrollment) based on the stratification procedure.

Since 1995, BJS has published 3 reports on data obtained from previous SCLEA surveys to describe characteristics of campus LEAs.¹^,5,6 The 2021 SCLEA data will be used to develop an updated report, highlighting trends in campus policing over time along with providing national estimates on new and emerging topics within campus law enforcement.

Uses of SCLEA Data by Others

The data to be collected from the 2021 SCLEA will be used to provide national-level and campus-level measures of law enforcement personnel, budgets, equipment, and policies and procedures. These statistics are requested and used by police chiefs, security directors, education administrators, legislators, planners, researchers, and others to identify resource needs, trends, and priorities in campus law enforcement.

The primary national membership organization for campus police chiefs and security directors is the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). This organization, with more than 4,200 members representing over 1,000 agencies, recognizes SCLEA as the only nationwide survey that can produce objective and comprehensive data covering a wide range of campus public safety issues. Campus law enforcement administrators will use the information collected in the survey to conduct crucial benchmark comparisons to assess their own operations relative to other agencies. Agencies studying potential changes, such as from non-sworn security to sworn police, or from unarmed to armed officers, have utilized BJS data to examine the costs in terms of salaries and benefits, equipment, and training associated with such changes.

Agencies have also used BJS data to develop budget requests to hire additional staff by developing comparisons with other agencies serving campuses with similar enrollments, geographic settings, or crime levels in the surrounding area. Agencies also use BJS data to identify agencies that may assist them with the development of policies in areas such as use of force and use of new technologies. Similarly, administrators use BJS data to identify other agencies for assistance in the development of programs in areas such as community policing, drug and alcohol education, rape prevention, victim assistance, and emergency preparedness.

Other areas for which campus law enforcement agencies have used the BJS data for comparison purposes include patrol allocation strategies, officer recruitment strategies, officer salaries and benefits, education and training requirements for officers, use of computers and new technologies, and the development of new information systems. The national benchmarks provided by this survey also help campus law enforcement officials and public policy makers identify gaps in areas such as access to services and emergency management so that efforts to protect the campus population and prevent crime can be enhanced.

The importance of campus safety is made evident by the Congressionally-mandated reporting of crime on campus required of all U.S. post-secondary institutions receiving federal funding. The data collected by SCLEA will provide valuable information to administrators, researchers, and policy makers for the study of the covariates of campus crime both in terms of general campus characteristics and the characteristics of campus law enforcement agencies. Such information could serve to be useful in developing responses that reduce the incidence of crime on campus.

The data collected in the BJS survey will be linked through the Office of Postsecondary Education identifier (OPEID) to the Clery Act data collected by the Department of Education. The Clery Act data include reported serious crimes (except for larceny) and violations related to drugs, alcohol and weapons. These data are required by law to be reported annually and are available for any reference year chosen for use with the BJS survey data.

According to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), SCLEA data have been used in 13 academic publications.⁷ Researchers have used SCLEA data to examine community policing on campuses, including the extent to which it has been adopted by campus LEAs and how it has impacted the organizational structures of these agencies.⁸ SCLEA data have also been used to assess the relationship between community policing and emergency preparedness.⁹ Researchers have also used SCLEA data to examine campus safety topics such as rape prevention and stalking,¹⁰ as well as evaluating the relationship between the number of female law enforcement officers and rates of reporting of sexual assault.¹¹

Other users of the SCLEA data are the media and the public. The BJS Law Enforcement Statistics Unit periodically receives questions from the public or from reporters on campus law enforcement that can be answered only with information collected through SCLEA.

Anticipated Products

BJS anticipates publishing a summary report of findings from the 2021 SCLEA. More information on this planned report is discussed under 16. Project Schedule.

At the time of the initial publication from the 2021 SCLEA, BJS will release a fully-documented data file for public use through its archive.

3. Use of Information Technology

BJS will use web-based data collection in the 2021 SCLEA to promote high response rates, rapid data collection, and simplified data verification and report preparation. BJS has selected Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International to act as the data collection agent for this program. RTI will provide a final program report to BJS that includes various paradata (e.g., respondent response mode, time required to answer each question, total time for survey completion, the time interval between respondent access to the survey and completion of the survey, etc.) that will allow BJS to evaluate the impact of promoting online data collection. This information will also enable BJS to develop strategies to encourage greater online data collection for future surveys.

Agencies may prefer to respond via paper survey. Some might not have reliable internet access and others might find it difficult to complete online because of the complexity of the requested data or the need to involve multiple people in preparing the response. Agencies that require paper access will have multiple methods of receiving paper versions of the instrument. Hard copies will be sent via mail during routine non-response follow-up. Hard copies will also be sent via fax by agency request. Finally, agencies will be able to download a PDF version of the survey from the survey site that can be printed or e-mailed to agency staff. Respondents can then complete the paper survey and transcribe it to the online survey instrument, or scan and return the completed form via mail, e-mail, or secure fax.

The dataset and supporting documentation will be made available without charge at BJS’s data archive, currently the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and at Data.gov. Access to these data permits analysts to identify the specific responses of individual agencies and to conduct statistical analyses about general purpose law agencies. These data will have agency- and jurisdiction-specific identifiers that will permit public use in combination with other data files with similar identifiers. The BJS-produced findings from the 2021 SCLEA will be provided to the public in electronic format. The report will be available on the BJS website as a PDF file.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

Based on our knowledge of the federal statistical system, in general, and law enforcement surveys in particular, BJS has determined that the 2021 SCLEA does not include measures found in other surveys conducted by any other Federal agencies.¹²

The Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education’s (OPE) conducts the Campus Safety and Security (CSS) data collection on an annual basis (OMB Control Number 1840-0833). The CSS data collection is authorized by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which requires institutions of higher education that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their campus. The data collected through SCLEA does not duplicate the data collected under the Clery Act requirement but rather supplements this collection by providing data on the characteristics of the law enforcement agencies serving each campus and the resources available to these agencies to prevent and respond to crime.

5. Efforts to Minimize Burden

Efforts to minimize burden are focused on two areas: instrument design and support services. First, in July 2020, BJS convened an expert panel to obtain feedback on the SCLEA instrument, with a primary focus on reducing burden and increasing relevance to campus law enforcement agencies. This panel was comprised of 10 individuals with expertise in campus law enforcement and included both campus law enforcement practitioners as well as campus policing scholars.

The outcome of this expert panel resulted in some significant changes for the 2021 SCLEA. Burden was reduced by clarifying question wording to better reflect the current state of campus policing, collapsing items and response categories, and dropping some items that no longer have utility. Other items were dropped because they were out-of-date and some items were revised in order to be clearer and more current. A full summary of the expert panel meeting is included as Attachment 3.

Under an OMB generic clearance (OMB Control Number 1121-0339), the 2021 SCLEA instrument underwent expanded cognitive testing. A total of 14 campus law enforcement agencies participated in the testing (Table 2). The instrument was divided into two modules and each respondent received instructions to complete one of the modules just as they would if they received the survey as part of the regular sample of agencies. Testers were asked to take note of any aspects of the module that were unclear, any questions or topics that were omitted, or any answer choices or response categories that were missing. Testers were also asked to time how long it took them to complete the module. Respondents were then asked to return the survey and participate in a 1-hour post survey interview.

Table 2. 2021 SCLEA Cognitive Interview Participants

Institution Name	Institution Size	Institution Type
Creighton University (NE)	Large	Public
Washburn University (KS)	Large	Public
San Joaquin Delta College (CA)	Large	Public
Montgomery College (MD)	Large	Public
West Texas A&M University	Large	Public
University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash (OH)	Large	Public
University of New Hampshire	Large	Public
University of Cincinnati-Clermont College (OH)	Small	Public
Kentucky State University	Small	Public
Montana Technological University	Small	Public
Calvin College (MI)	Large	Private
University of Tampa (FL)	Large	Private
Gwynedd Mercy University (PA)	Large	Private
St. Thomas Aquinas University (NY)	Small	Private

Several modifications were made as a result of the cognitive testing. To improve understanding of the reference period used throughout the instrument, the definition of “academic year” was updated to be consistent with the definition used by IPEDS. Another instrument-wide update was changing the term “non-sworn officers” to “non-sworn/civilian personnel” because several participants indicated that they do not refer to their non-sworn staff as officers. In the Personnel section, there were discrepancies in total full-time sworn officer counts between the responses in Q5 and Q6 for several respondents, so BJS added a “Total” row to Q5 and an instruction to Q6 indicating that the totals should match.

Other changes included clarifying existing instructions, descriptions, and response options to reduce confusion. For example, on Q39, participants reported confusion regarding the areas for which the survey asks about arrest or patrol jurisdiction, noting that the distinction between public places in two subitems was not clear. BJS added more context to these descriptions to alleviate this confusion. This confusion also applied to Q40, so the same updates to the descriptions were applied there as well. Full results of the cognitive testing are included in Attachment 4.

BJS expects that many respondents will make use of the online survey software to complete the survey. A number of web-based system functions will be in place to ease the burden of survey completion. RTI will utilize an intelligent log-in program for data collection, which will store agency information and responses, allowing for multi-session, non-sequential completion of the survey instrument. Since many agencies, particularly the larger ones, will need to seek out multiple information sources within their organizations to answer different sections, this will reduce the burden on them by facilitating data entry from different sources. It will also reduce the burden by allowing them to stop response entry pending confirmation of information from others in the agency.

Help icons located next to each survey question will link respondents to item-specific information, additional guidance, and helpdesk contact information to facilitate requests for assistance. The help desk will be staffed during normal business hours (Eastern time) and will be available to respondents through a toll-free number. Respondents will also receive a hard copy questionnaire, along with directions, by mail. Additionally, respondents will be able to access a PDF version of the survey online, which can be printed. Once complete, this paper version of the survey can be used to enter data through the web-based survey instrument or can be returned via e-mail, fax, or mail.

In addition, project staff from RTI will be available to assist respondents throughout the data collection period. A data collection manager will oversee the help desk. When not available, calls to the help desk will be routed automatically to another survey team member for immediate response. Voice-mail will be available outside of regular business hours and a dedicated SCLEA help e-mail address will be provided with the introductory letter and survey packet. The office phone number and e-mail address for the survey principal investigator will also be provided to respondents to ensure timely communications.

6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

It has been ten years since SCLEA was last conducted. Many changes have occurred in the field of campus law enforcement over this period of time and the 2021 SCLEA will provide important updated information on campus policing to both practitioners and researchers. The 2021 SCLEA schedule takes agency burden into account, considering that agencies serving public institutions are included in the CSLLEA. The last CSLLEA was conducted in 2018 and the next CSLLEA is planned for fall 2022; the 2021 SCLEA was planned to fall between the two CSLLEA iterations to avoid an overlapping schedule and limit the burden on the agencies that are eligible for both data collections.

7. Special Circumstances

No special circumstances have been identified for this project.

8. Federal Register Publication and Outside Consultations

The research under this clearance is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. The 60-day notice for public commentary was published in the Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 94, pages 26944-26945 on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. BJS did not receive any comments in response to the 60-day notice. The 30-day notice for public commentary was published in the Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 139, pages 39077-39078, on Friday, July 23, 2021. A correction to the 30-day notice was published in the Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 144, page 41093, on Friday, July 30, 2021, to correct the burden estimates. The initial estimates, based upon 2018 IPEDS data, were approximately 1,860 respondents and 1,860 total burden hours for the 2021 SCLEA. The 2019 IPEDS data have since become available and provide updated information on the number of eligible agencies. The estimated number of respondents is now 2,067 and the total estimated burden for the collection is 2,067 hours.

In July 2020, BJS convened an expert panel with ten campus law enforcement practitioners and research scholars (Table 3) with 1) a history of publishing research involving or related to SCLEA or 2) a known interest in campus law enforcement. BJS emailed a copy of the 2011 SCLEA long form and asked panelists to review it prior to the expert panel meeting so that they would be prepared to provide feedback on items to keep, update, drop, and add. BJS also sent panelists a copy of the 2020 LEMAS instrument for reference, providing panelists with a recently updated BJS survey covering many of the same topics as SCLEA.

Table 3. 2021 SCLEA Expert Panel Attendees

Robin Engel, Ph.D., Professor IACP/UC Center for Police Research & Policy Director University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221	John Sloan, Ph.D., Professor Department of Criminal Justice University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294
Katy Hancock, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Community Leadership & Human Services Murray State University Murray, KY 42071	Janne Gaub, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC 28223
Andrea Allen, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Social Sciences Clayton State University Morrow, GA 30260	Brian Williams, Ph.D., Associate Professor Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22904
Michael Aiello, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Department of Criminal Justice Fredonia State University Fredonia, NY 14063	Jeffrey Johns, Chief of Police Delta State University Cleveland, MS 38733
James Whalen, Chief of Police University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221	John Dailey, Chief of Police Duke University Durham, NC 27708

After development of the draft instruments, 96 agencies, split evenly between a primary sample and a replacement sample, were invited to participate in cognitive interviewing under the OMB generic clearance (OMB control number 1121-0339). For cognitive interviewing, the SCLEA instrument was divided into two modules and participants were invited to complete one of the modules via paper form and then participate in an hour-long interview to assess survey content. Of the 96 agencies invited, 14 participated. The results of the cognitive interviews are included in Attachment 4.

9. Paying Respondents

Neither BJS nor RTI will provide any payment or gift of any type to respondents. Respondents will participate on a voluntary basis.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

According to 34 U.S. Code § 10134, the information gathered in this data collection shall be used only for statistical or research purposes, and shall be gathered in a manner that precludes their use for law enforcement or any purpose relating to a particular individual other than statistical or

research purposes. The data collected through the SCLEA represent institutional characteristics of campus LEAs. Information about these organizations is largely available in the public domain.

The fact that participation in this survey is voluntary and that information about individual

agency responses will be available to the public is included on the first page of the survey

instrument. However, BJS will not release the names, phone numbers or email of the actual persons responsible for completing the 2021 SCLEA.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

Historically, BJS has asked campus LEAs about policies on the use of firearms and other weapons (Q28 and Q29) since 1994-1995. For the 2021 SCLEA, in an effort to provide a more complete picture of campus law enforcement and align more closely with LEMAS, BJS has added questions on authorized techniques (e.g., open hand techniques, closed hand techniques; Q29) and use of force policies (Q38 and Q42). Campus LEAs may conclude that, in an era of increased scrutiny of law enforcement, this information may be particularly sensitive. However, there has been a history of criticism of law enforcement use of force techniques, such as the 1991 assault on Rodney King, the 2014 deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and the 2020 death of George Floyd. Even in these times of heightened scrutiny of law enforcement practices, BJS has maintained these types of questions on its LEMAS survey and has not received pushback from agencies in completing these items.

Law enforcement agencies have been supportive in reporting their policies on these topics as it leads to increased transparency. Based upon this experience with LEMAS, along with feedback received during the expert panel meeting and cognitive interviews, BJS expects that campus LEAs will also be supportive in reporting on these types of policies.

The contact materials, including the survey invitation letter (Attachment 6), stress BJS’s data use policies, including the statement that “BJS uses the data collected in SCLEA only for research and statistical purposes, as described in 34 U.S. Code § 10134” and pointing respondents to our Data Protection Guidelines. BJS will stress these protections for the data in its communication with respondents.

12. Estimate of Respondent Burden

BJS has estimated the respondent burden for the proposed 2021 SCLEA at 2,067 hours (Table 4). This estimate is based the results of the cognitive interviewing. Respondents were asked to time themselves when taking the survey. While participants were only assigned one of two modules of the survey to complete for cognitive testing, many participants chose to complete the whole survey. The burden estimate is the average of these estimates. Overall, participants reported that the data needed to complete the survey was readily available to them and they did not have any issues. Further, many reported that data that could be more burdensome was readily available and maintained as part of their Clery documentation.

The 2011 SCLEA had a long form (64 questions) for campus LEAs serving larger institutions and a short form (36 questions) for campus LEAs serving smaller institutions. The long form had a 2-hour burden while the short form had a 1-hour burden. The 2021 SCLEA uses a single instrument with 42 questions and is estimated to have a 1-hour burden. This burden estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Table 4: Estimated Burden Hours for 2021 SCLEA.

	Sample Size	Estimated Burden (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
All campus LEAs in SCLEA universe	2,067	1	2,067
Total	2,067		2,067

13. Estimate of Respondent’s Cost Burden

BJS anticipates that one or more persons per surveyed agency will spend time reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Whether the response is provided by one or more than one person, the weighted average for the total burden for each agency is estimated to be 1 hour. Assuming a pay rate approximately equivalent to the GS-12 / 01 level ($77,488 per year), the estimated agency cost of employee time would be approximately $37.13 per hour.

Approximately 2,067 agencies will be invited to participate in the 2021 SCLEA. Based on the estimated time burden per response and employee pay rate, the total respondent employee time cost burden is estimated at about $76,750. There are no anticipated costs to respondents beyond the employee time expended during completion of the survey instrument and addressed above.

14. Costs to Federal Government

The 2021 SCLEA is being developed and conducted under a multi-year cooperative agreement. Table 5 reflects the cost to administer the 2021 SCLEA.

Table 5. Estimated costs for the 2021 SCLEA

Category		Cost
BJS costs
	Staff salaries
	GS-13 Statistician (25%)	$27,650
	GS-15 Supervisory Statistician (3%)	$4,300
	GS-13 Editor (10%)	$10,000
	Other Editorial Staff	$5,000
	Front-Office Staff (GS-15 & Directors)	$2,000
	Subtotal salaries	$48,950
	Fringe benefits (28% of salaries)	$13,706
	Subtotal: Salary & fringe	$62,656
	Other administrative costs of salary & fringe (15%)	$9,398
	Subtotal: BJS costs	$72,054
Data Collection Agent (RTI)
	Personnel (including fringe)	$359,404
	Travel	$11,529
	Supplies	$0
	Consultant/Contracts	$55,446
	Other	$18,182
	Total Indirect	$301,314
	Subtotal Data Collection Agent Costs	$745,875
TOTAL COSTS		$817,929

15. Reason for Change in Burden

The total burden estimate for the 2021 SCLEA has been reduced by 267 hours compared to the 2011 SCLEA. The 2021 SCLEA utilizes a single survey instrument compared to the previous long and short form design used in the last SCLEA wave. Almost half of the 2011 SCLEA agencies (46%) served larger campuses, which meant they received the long form with twice the estimated burden as agencies serving smaller campuses and receiving the short form. The 2021 SCLEA used the 2011 long form as a starting point and the expert panel served to update and prioritize survey items with respondent burden in mind. The burden estimate is based on the average time reported for survey completion during cognitive interviews. Table 6 summarizes the changes in estimated burden between the 2011 and 2021 SCLEA administrations.

Table 6: Estimated Burden Hours for the 2011 and 2021 SCLEA

	Sample Size	Estimated Burden (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
	2011 SCLEA
Larger campuses	735	2	1,470
Smaller campuses	864	1	864
Weighted Sample	1,599	1.46	2,334
	2021 SCLEA
All campus LEAs in SCLEA universe	2,067	1	2,067
Total	2,067		2,067

15. Project Schedule

The data collection for 2021 SCLEA is scheduled to begin in late September 2021 and conclude in mid-May 2022 for a data collection period of almost 8 months. While this program anticipates a final response rate above 80%, should the response rate should not reach 80%, BJS will conduct a nonresponse bias assessment. Table 7 contains the project schedule.

Table 7. Project Schedule

Stage	Type of contact	Week	Attachment Number
Survey pre-notification letter	All	1	5
Survey invitation letter (with URL and login instructions) with SCLEA flyer and IACLEA letter of support	All	3	6, 7, 8
Email invitation with URL and login instructions	All	4	9
Completion thank you	All	Variable	10
First reminder (letter with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	6	11
First reminder (email version; with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	7	11
Second reminder (postcard with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	9	12
Third reminder (letter with URL and login instructions, paper survey, and return envelope)	Non-respondents	11	13, 2
Fourth reminder (email with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	14	14
Fifth reminder (letter with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	16	15
Telephone non-response contact	Non-respondents	19	16
Sixth reminder (letter with URL and login instructions)	Non-respondents	21	17
Final mailing (end-of-study letter and email)	Non-respondents	25	18
File cleaning and preparation	N/A	Months 9-12	--
Analysis	N/A	Months 12-18	--
Reports	N/A	Months 18-24	--

BJS will be responsible for the statistical analysis and publication of the data from the 2021 SCLEA. Contingent on the processing and delivery of the final data file, BJS anticipates releasing a summary report and the data by September 2023. This summary report, titled Campus Law Enforcement Agencies, 2021, will provide general information on the characteristics of campus LEAs, including the composition of campus law enforcement officers by sex and race and Hispanic origin. This report will also discuss findings related to the functions for which campus LEAs have primary responsibility, operations, pay, equipment, technology, and officer selection and training.

15. Display of Expiration Date

The expiration date will be shown on the survey form.

15. Exception to the Certificate Statement

BJS is not requesting an exception to the certification of this information collection.

15. Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

1. BJS contacts include:

Elizabeth Davis

202-305-2667

Elizabeth.Davis@usdoj.gov

Kevin M. Scott, Ph.D.

202-616-3615

Kevin.M.Scott@usdoj.gov

2. Persons consulted on statistical methodology:

Nicole Mack

RTI International

3. Persons consulted on data collection and analysis:

Dustin Williams Tim Smith

RTI International RTI International

Christian Genesky Tim Flanigan

RTI International RTI International

1 Reaves BA. Campus law enforcement, 2011-12 (NCJ 248028).

https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cle1112.pdf. January 2015.

2 National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Trend generator.

https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/TrendGenerator/app/answer/2/3. Published n.d.

3 National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Trend generator.

https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/TrendGenerator/app/answer/5/30. Published n.d.

4 Campus Safety and Security, U.S. Department of Education. Generate trend data.

https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/Trend/public/#/subjects. Published n.d.

5 Reaves BA. Campus law enforcement, 2004-05 (NCJ 219374). https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cle0405.pdf. February 2008.

6 Reaves BA. Campus law enforcement agencies, 1995 (NCJ 161137). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED408883.pdf. Dec 1996.

7 https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/NACJD/series/93/publications

8 Hancock, K. Community policing within campus law enforcement agencies. Police Practice and Research, 17, (5), 463-476, 2016.

9 Basham, Sherah L. Campus law enforcement: The relationship between emergency preparedness and community policing. Policing, 2020.

10 Pinchevsky, Gillian M. Campus law enforcement resources for rape prevention and responses to stalking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2019.

11 Oehme, Karen; Stern, Nat; Mennicke, Annelise. A deficiency in addressing campus sexual assault: The lack of women law enforcement officers. Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Vol. 38, p337-372. 2015.

12 As previously mentioned in the Overview, BJS periodically collects the CSLLEA which includes campus LEAs, but only those serving public institutions. The CSLLEA provides estimates on the number of public campus LEAs, personnel counts, and basic functions performed by these agencies.

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