District finds theft, attacks low concern:
Campuses free of major crime, chief reports
by Rawly Bransom
editor-in-chief
TCC may not be impervious to crime, but it is safer than many four-year universities, according to Frankie Buchanan, chief of the TCC police department.
According to Buchanan, TCC’s lack of both dorms and sporting events helps keep its crime rate low.
Buchanan added that both places are breeding grounds for petty crimes such as car thefts, as well as bigger crimes such as murders and rapes.
“ Thank God, we don’t have any of those murderers or rapists on our campuses now,” he said.
According to Buchanan, all new employees must undergo some training in safety before ever stepping foot on a campus.
“ As a part of the hiring process, we give all our new employees a 15-minute lecture on security education and a motivation briefing so they are security conscious,” he said.
Each year TCC publishes its Annual Security Report. The school must make these figures known because of a federal law known as the Jeanne Clery Act.
“ Students and employees must be given crime reports that include statistics on murder, forcible sex offenses, non-forcible sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, arson and motor vehicle theft,” the act reads.
The law also states that the report must describe how crime statistics were collected as well as how to report crimes or emergencies on campus.
TCC’s annual report includes this information and provides school’s policies on alcohol and drugs and gives safety tips to students regarding behavior on and off campus.
According to the report from the fall semester of 2000 to the spring semester last year, TCC has had no murders on campus, two forcible sex offenses, one non-forcible sex offense, no robberies, two aggravated assaults and no arson attempts.
The first forcible sex offense occurred in 2001 when a woman was adbucted from NE Campus.
The second offense happened on NW Campus during the 2001-2002 school year, and the only instance of non-forcible happened at NW during the same time frame.
Also in that same time period, TCC had only six instances of car theft.
“ Over the last few years, Fort Worth has received a rash of car thefts, but luckily, we have not been a part of that,” Buchanan said.
TCC does have crime on its campuses. Although low, burglary of a building, burglary of a motor vehicle and smaller petty thefts are what Buchanan calls “theft by opportunity.”
Forty-three cars have been broken into during the time period of the report.
According to Buchanan, the numbers are either equal to or lower than those found at any mall in the Metroplex.
“ TCC officers patrol 24 hours a day to help prevent any break-ins,” he said.
TCC’s buildings were burglarized eight times during the three-year period.
Buchanan says that both the police department and the administration are serious about stopping these crimes.
“ Dr. de la Garza and his crew are very serious about this problem, and we are all working on ways to prevent it,” he said.
Not only is much more expensive equipment being placed into permanent mounts in classrooms, but a new electronic lock system is being experimented with.
The new lock system will allow the police department to track when and where any door on a TCC campus is opened and unlocked.
“ By using access cards, we will not only see what doors are open, but also who has gone into what room,” Buchanan said.
Crime is still a part of life in this country, but according to Chief Buchanan, the most important thing TCC students and employees can do to prevent it is be prepared.
“ The best thing we can do is to have our own people—both faculty and staff as well as students—become more security conscious at all times,” he said.
Copies of the annual security report are available at any of the TCC police stations or on the school’s Web site at www.tccd.edu.
Last Updated: 4/14/2004
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