Data were collected in conjunction with the 2004 BJS Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies. The survey instrument was patterned after the BJS Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey. Data were collected from agencies serving 4-year campuses with 2,500 or more students and 2-year campuses with 10,000 or more students. Data were collected on personnel, expenditures and pay, operations, equipment, computers and information systems, policies, and special programs. 

The 2004-05 survey was initially conducted as a web-only data collection. Follow-up efforts provided agencies with fax and mail-in response options. The final response rate was 82%, with 749 of 913 potential respondents participating in the survey (tables 15 and 16). Nearly two-thirds (65%) of responses were received electronically through the survey website. The remainder were received by mail or fax.

Among 4-year institutions, 606 of 750 agencies responded to the full survey, for a response rate of 81%. Among 2-year institutions, 143 of 163 agencies responded to the full survey, for a response rate of 88%.

For agencies not responding to the full survey, an abbreviated survey instrument was used, giving agencies the opportunity to provide data on type and number of personnel, use of sworn officers, use of armed officers, physical campus characteristics, and number of crimes reported to campus law enforcement authorities. All non-respondents provided at least some of this information.

Campus crime statistics were compiled using data from the BJS survey, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, and the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Security Statistics Website at <http://ope.ed.gov/security/index.asp>.