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2019 Boston University Crime & Safety Report

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

Info in this crime and safety report on Boston U:

Understanding the Crime Stats for Boston U

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 unusual for institutions to report that no incidents occurred in some 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.

Zero incidents of reported crime may be nice to see, but it does not necessarily mean the school is safer, as 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.

Boston U Overall Crime Stats

854 Total Number of Incidents
25.33 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Boston University reported 854 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students at or near campus or on other properties associated with the school. Based on a student body population of 33,720, that's 25.33 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes1281,6703.804,000.00
Arrests for Possession1188803.501,352.94
Violence Against Women613341.811,000.00
Disciplinary Actions5472,67016.224,574.85

Boston U Overall Crime by Category

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

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Disciplinary actions account for 64.1% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 13.8% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Boston University resulted in arrests for possession. About 15.0% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 7.1% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how Boston U 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

Boston U Overall Crime by Location

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

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Boston U On-Campus Crime Stats

709 Total Number of Incidents
21.03 Incidents per 1000 Students
Boston University reported 709 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place on campus. Based on a student body population of 33,720, that's 21.03 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes711,5852.114,000.00
Arrests for Possession368131.07888.89
Violence Against Women553311.631,000.00
Disciplinary Actions5472,64516.224,544.91

Boston U On-Campus Crime by Category

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

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Boston U Residence Hall Crime Stats

596 Total Number of Incidents
17.67 Incidents per 1000 Students
Boston University reported 596 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 17.67 incidents per 1,000 students, considering that the student body population is 33,720.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes251670.74101.80
Arrests for Possession67150.18180.35
Violence Against Women181400.5353.89
Disciplinary Actions5472,50716.224,029.94

Boston U Residence Hall Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of Boston U crime and safety incidents by category in residence halls is shown in the following chart.

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145 Total Number of Incidents
4.30 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Boston University reported 145 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on public property in the surrounding Boston neighborhood. Since the number of students at the school that year was 33,720, that's 4.30 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes57671.69666.67
Arrests for Possession822452.431,294.12
Violence Against Women6240.18555.56
Disciplinary Actions01370.00137.93

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

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References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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