Professor John Robertson OBA

Yesterday’s tragic killings at Brown University in the USA are only the latest in a sequence of 43 such incidents.

Ironically, in July this year Police Scotland answered a Freedom of Information request from the US Department of Education on crime data for Scotland’s Higher education campuses, in a surprisingly unhelpful way:

I refer to your recent request for crime data, made in accordance with the Clery Act.

Unfortunately, Police Scotland is unable to assist with your request.

Having reviewed the ‘Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting’ from the US Department of Education, it is noted that the Act has strict recording and counting criteria and we are unable to compile data that would be directly comparable or applicable to the requirements of the Act.

https://www.scotland.police.uk/access-to-information/freedom-of-information/disclosure-log/disclosure-log-2025/july/25-2256-clery-act-request-usa-university/

This followed an identical request and response in April 2025. I understand that Police Scotland may not have directly comparable data but could they not have had a wee Google and sent them this?

From How safe is your city? in the Complete University Guide for 2025:

Above, the safest University cities in England and Wales in terms of incidents per 1 000 population.

and the most dangerous, above.

So, what do you think the data for Scotland might reveal? The stereotypes are still with us, but:

In every English university town you are significantly more likely to be a victim of violent crime than in any Scottish one.

I haven’t see this reported anywhere.

Source: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/where-to-study/how-safe-is-your-city