CRIME DATA
Raw incident numbers are of limited comparative value, given the varying sizes of hospitals across the United States. To provide context, the 2024 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.
The survey found that hospitals averaged 10.2 full-time security employees per 100 beds. The result in the previous survey was 9.5 security personnel per 100 beds.
The rate of elopements was 8.2 per 100 beds. The previous year’s result was 5.6 per 100 beds.
Readers are advised to review the Limitations section (pp. 17-18) when interpreting the data.
The first graph below shows the crime rates in 2023 per 100 beds for each crime. The subsequent graphs in this section display the crime rate trends from 2012 to 2023, 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 92 percent of incidents in this category in 2023.)
