Although Fort Worth crime statistics suggest the TCU area is relatively more safe than surrounding areas, that might not be the case. Fort Worth crime statistics in the TCU area do not show the total amount of crime because Fort Worth police do not report on-campus crime, said Kirk Byrom, a neighborhood police officer for the Fort Worth Police Department.

The TCU Police report and record crime on the TCU campus separately, Byrom said, and those statistics are not included in the city’s statistics.

To calculate the total amount of crime in the TCU area, the TCU annual crime statistics would have to be added to the Fort Worth Police crime statistics, said TCU Police Sgt. Kelly Ham .

When the TCU crime statistics are added to the Fort Worth crime statistics for the four sections that make up the TCU area from January to August 2007, the TCU area has 16 percent more crime than the five sections surrounding it.

The reason the crime statistics are recorded separately is because the TCU Police have a different jurisdiction, Ham said.

Ham said because the TCU Police have such a good relationship with the Fort Worth police, it makes it easy to accurately record crime statistics. None of the crimes are recorded by both departments, Ham said.

Combining the TCU and city crime statistics show the TCU area had 276 crimes reported during those months. The most, 81, were on-campus thefts.

The five sections surrounding the TCU area had 222 crimes reported total. The majority, 181, were also thefts.

Compared to last year’s statistics in the TCU area, crime is up 8 percent for the months of January to August.

Crime in the surrounding area is down 3 percent for the same months.

When Brooke LeBleu, freshman theater major, was told how the crime statistics are recorded, she said it is misleading for the Fort Worth police to record the crime in the TCU area without clarifying that on-campus crime is not included. However, LeBleu said the TCU Police do a good job of creating a safe environment on campus.

Byrom said the best way to lower crime statistics is prevention.

He said crime prevention meetings inform people of the trends in crime, but not many people attend those meetings.

In response to crime trends on-campus, TCU crime prevention officer Pam Christian said she invites specialists to come speak to students and educate them about how to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

Christian said the TCU Police will also increase patrols to focus on high-crime areas.