Spring Break
Police statistics indicate fences decreasing crime
Asher Fogle
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News
Although construction of new fences around campus has decreased the number of vehicle burglaries in many parking lots, according to TCU Police data, additional methods are being implemented in other areas where crime remains frequent.
TCU Police statistics indicate that fences on campus have made parking lots safer, significantly decreasing the total number of vehicle burglaries, yet crime in certain areas is consistently high.
Fences around the formerly higher-crime area of Worth Hills have made access harder for thieves and there has been a drastic decline in burglaries since construction, said TCU Police Sgt. Kelly Ham.
During the 2005-2006 school year, there were 10 burglaries of vehicles in Worth Hills, according to TCU Police crime statistics.
A fence along Berry Street was completed during the fall semester, and two incidents of burglary have been reported this academic year in both lots closest to the football stadium, which will soon also be fenced in, Ham said.
He said the fences are effective because "crooks don't like to be bottled in."
"We can trap them, and that's exactly what's happened," Ham said. "That's why we've been able to make so many arrests in there and in the other parking lots."
TCU Police have arrested nine separate groups during the 2006-2007 school year that were related to burglary of a motor vehicle, Ham said.
Gates across the Cantey Street exit have made it easier for TCU Police to arrest suspects in the freshman lot.
"If we get a call that there's somebody snooping around in there, all the officers have to do is block Frog Alley and then send another car in there," Ham said. "And they're either going to have to abandon their vehicle and run on foot - make it a foot chase - or we've got them."
Despite the increase in arrests, police statistics do not show a decline in the number of burglaries of vehicles in the freshman and overflow parking lots when compared to the previous year.
TCU Police statistics indicate that fences on campus have made parking lots safer, significantly decreasing the total number of vehicle burglaries, yet crime in certain areas is consistently high.
Fences around the formerly higher-crime area of Worth Hills have made access harder for thieves and there has been a drastic decline in burglaries since construction, said TCU Police Sgt. Kelly Ham.
During the 2005-2006 school year, there were 10 burglaries of vehicles in Worth Hills, according to TCU Police crime statistics.
A fence along Berry Street was completed during the fall semester, and two incidents of burglary have been reported this academic year in both lots closest to the football stadium, which will soon also be fenced in, Ham said.
He said the fences are effective because "crooks don't like to be bottled in."
"We can trap them, and that's exactly what's happened," Ham said. "That's why we've been able to make so many arrests in there and in the other parking lots."
TCU Police have arrested nine separate groups during the 2006-2007 school year that were related to burglary of a motor vehicle, Ham said.
Gates across the Cantey Street exit have made it easier for TCU Police to arrest suspects in the freshman lot.
"If we get a call that there's somebody snooping around in there, all the officers have to do is block Frog Alley and then send another car in there," Ham said. "And they're either going to have to abandon their vehicle and run on foot - make it a foot chase - or we've got them."
Despite the increase in arrests, police statistics do not show a decline in the number of burglaries of vehicles in the freshman and overflow parking lots when compared to the previous year.
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