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2019 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Crime & Safety Report

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

Info in this crime and safety report on RPI:

A Word About the Crime Stats for RPI

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.

RPI Overall Crime Stats

330 Total Number of Incidents
43.84 Incidents per 1000 Students
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 330 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place at or near campus or on other properties affiliated with the school. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 43.84 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 Crimes471,6706.244,000.00
Arrests for Possession28800.271,352.94
Violence Against Women113341.461,000.00
Disciplinary Actions2702,67035.874,574.85

RPI Overall Crime by Category

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

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Disciplinary actions account for 81.8% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 0.6% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute resulted in arrests for possession. About 14.2% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 3.3% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how RPI 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

RPI Overall Crime by Location

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

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RPI On-Campus Crime Stats

298 Total Number of Incidents
39.59 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 298 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on campus. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 39.59 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 Crimes361,5854.784,000.00
Arrests for Possession18130.13888.89
Violence Against Women103311.331,000.00
Disciplinary Actions2512,64533.344,544.91

RPI On-Campus Crime by Category

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

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RPI Affiliated Off-Campus Crime Stats

20 Total Number of Incidents
2.66 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 20 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on affiliated off-campus properties. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 2.66 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 Crimes51640.66333.33
Arrests for Possession0640.00111.11
Violence Against Women11000.13194.44
Disciplinary Actions141441.86305.56

RPI Affiliated Off-Campus Crime by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of RPI crime and safety incidents on affiliated off-campus properties are in each category.

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RPI Residence Hall Crime Stats

269 Total Number of Incidents
35.73 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 269 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students in residence halls. These counts are also included in the on-campus crimes category. Based on a student body population of 7,528, that's 35.73 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 Crimes251673.32101.80
Arrests for Possession17150.13180.35
Violence Against Women61400.8053.89
Disciplinary Actions2372,50731.484,029.94

RPI Residence Hall Crime by Category

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

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12 Total Number of Incidents
1.59 Incidents per 1000 Students
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 12 safety-related incidents involving students on public property in the Troy neighborhood around the campus in 2019. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 1.59 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 Crimes6670.80666.67
Arrests for Possession12450.131,294.12
Violence Against Women0240.00555.56
Disciplinary Actions51370.66137.93

The chart below shows what percentage of RPI student-related crime and safety incidents in the Troy neighborhood surrounding the campus are in each category.

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References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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