The rate of crimes against people--including battery and sexual offenses--increased 17% last year in California schools, according to a report released by the state Department of Education on Wednesday.
Rates of weapons possession, bombings, bomb threats, loitering, drug and alcohol sales and burglary decreased. But rates of all other crimes either held steady or rose on campuses throughout the state, the annual school crime report said.
The rates of property crimes such as vandalism and theft as well as drug and alcohol offenses climbed slightly--at least in part due to heightened reporting, a department official said.
This was the first time in the five years of school crime reporting that the rate of crimes against people exceeded the property crime rate.
Still, officials insisted that schools remain relatively safe.
"They tend to be the safest institutions in the communities in which they reside," said Doug Stone, spokesman for the education department,
But with battery reaching a rate of 3.88 incidents per 1,000 students--the highest rate of any type of crime--a group that monitors school safety expressed concern.
"There seems to be a continuing impulsiveness with regard to assault, not only in schools here in California, but around the country," said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in Westlake Village.
The prevalence of different crimes varies by grade level, according to the report. In high school, drug and alcohol offenses are more common. But in middle school and, increasingly, elementary school, crimes against fellow students--such as battery--are most frequently reported.
Stephens suggested improved conflict resolution programs, peer mediation and enhanced adult supervision as possible solutions.
School officials confiscated 20% fewer guns and 13% fewer knives than in the previous year, according to the report.
The small rise in rates of drug use and drug possession probably is the result of better reporting, not an actual increase, the report said.
In Los Angeles County, rates of battery and property crimes increased by 18% and 14% respectively compared with the previous year. However, apart from property crimes, crime rates were at or below the statewide level.
Two districts within the county, however, reported very high rates of property crime and battery.
