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2019 Amherst College Crime & Safety Report

Is Amherst College safe? On this page, we'll examine crime statistics for the college campus and surrounding areas.

Info in this crime and safety report on Amherst:

Understanding the Crime Stats for Amherst

Types of Crime & Safety Incidents

We have compiled this information on crime statistics from the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security data. The types of crimes are divided into the following categories: arrests for major crimes, arrests for possession, violence against women, and disciplinary actions.

The arrests for major crimes category includes arrests for things such as murder, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, and arson. The violence against women grouping includes things such as domestic violence, date rape, and stalking. The arrests for possession classification deals with things such as weapons possession, alcohol violations, and drug violations. The disciplinary actions category involves possession of weapons, alcohol violations, and drug violations in the cases where no arrest occurred but some action was taken.

Number of Incidents

It is not uncommon for a school to report zero incidents for any or all of these categories. In fact, 56% of the schools we cover reported no arrests for major crimes, 67% reported no violence against women, 70% reported no arrests for possession, and 68% reported no disciplinary actions.

Although zero incidents of reported crime is nice, it doesn't necessarily mean that the school is safer. It could indicate lax reporting. Similarly, a high number of incidents could indicate that the school is more strict about reporting and law enforcement than other institutions.

Amherst Overall Crime Stats

113 Total Number of Incidents
61.45 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Amherst College reported 113 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students at or near campus or on other properties associated with the school. Since the number of students at the school that year was 1,839, that's 61.45 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes501,67027.194,000.00
Arrests for Possession108805.441,352.94
Violence Against Women113345.981,000.00
Disciplinary Actions422,67022.844,574.85

Amherst Overall Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of Amherst crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.

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Disciplinary actions account for 37.2% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 8.8% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Amherst College resulted in arrests for possession. About 44.2% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 9.7% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how Amherst compares to other colleges and universities in the nation when it comes to each category of crime and safety-related incidents. Note that this does not take school size into account so larger schools are likely to have more incidents.

Arrests for Possession  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Arrests for Major Crimes  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Violence Against Women  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Disciplinary Actions  (Incidents)
fewer
more

We can factor in the size of the school and look at the incidents per thousand students as well.

Arrests for Possession  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Arrests for Major Crimes  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Violence Against Women  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Disciplinary Actions  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more

Amherst Overall Crime by Location

The chart below shows what percentage of Amherst crime and safety incidents happened in each location.

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Amherst On-Campus Crime Stats

100 Total Number of Incidents
54.38 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Amherst College reported 100 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on campus. Based on a student body population of 1,839, that's 54.38 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes501,58527.194,000.00
Arrests for Possession08130.00888.89
Violence Against Women113315.981,000.00
Disciplinary Actions392,64521.214,544.91

Amherst On-Campus Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of Amherst on-campus crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.

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Amherst Residence Hall Crime Stats

82 Total Number of Incidents
44.59 Incidents per 1000 Students
Amherst College reported 82 safety-related incidents involving students in residence halls in 2019. These counts are also included in the on-campus crimes category. That works out to 44.59 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 1,839.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes4016721.75101.80
Arrests for Possession07150.00180.35
Violence Against Women91404.8953.89
Disciplinary Actions332,50717.944,029.94

Amherst Residence Hall Crime by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of Amherst crime and safety incidents in residence halls are in each category.

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13 Total Number of Incidents
7.07 Incidents per 1000 Students
Amherst College reported 13 safety-related incidents involving students on public property in the Amherst neighborhood around the campus in 2019. That works out to 7.07 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 1,839.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes0670.00666.67
Arrests for Possession102455.441,294.12
Violence Against Women0240.00555.56
Disciplinary Actions31371.63137.93

The percentage breakdown of Amherst student-related crime and safety incidents by category in the surrounding Amherst neighborhood is shown in the following chart.

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References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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