CRIME DATA
Raw incident numbers are of limited comparative value, given the varying sizes of hospitals across the United States. To provide context, the 2023 Healthcare Crime Survey collected bed counts for each hospital. This allowed for the calculation of crime rates (per 100 beds) and the comparison of crime rates over time.
Bed counts were selected based on experience from prior Crime Surveys in which other size and population indicators were used but were found to be more challenging to obtain. Previous crime
surveys have reported average bed counts per facility. However, this measure has proven to be problematic since some responses appear to cover multiple sites. The survey found that hospitals averaged 9.5 full-time security employees per 100 beds. The result in the previous survey was 10.7 security personnel per 100 beds.
The rate of elopements was 5.6 per 100 beds. The previous year’s result was 6.1 per 100 beds.
Readers are advised to review the Limitations section when interpreting the data in this report.
The first graph below shows the crime rates in 2022 per 100 beds for each crime. The subsequent graphs in this section display the crime rate trends from 2012 to 2022, with the exception of
2017, when no Crime Survey was published. For analytical purposes – and consistent with FBI Uniform Crime Reporting practice – murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault were aggregated into one group called “violent crime.” (Aggravated assaults accounted for 78 percent of incidents in this category in 2022.)
