EDITORIAL: A numbers game

Changing the way crimesChanging the way crimesnear campus are reportedChanging the way crimesnear campus are reportedwon't improve safety inChanging the way crimesnear campus are reportedwon't improve safety inWest Philadelphia.Changing the way crimesnear campus are reportedwon't improve safety inWest Philadelphia.________________________ In an effort to make students, faculty and staff residing in the area feel safer, University Police will no longer enter into its public log crimes that occur outside of its jurisdiction, or west of 43rd Street -- although many members of the University community live all the way up to 48th Street. The reasoning behind the change is simple, according to the memo: Knowing about crime makes people uneasy. So now, instead of being aware and taking adequate, though anxiety-producing, precautions, we simply won't know how many rapes, robberies or burglaries are taking place just beyond the borders of the off-campus blocks undergraduates frequent. And in the Police department's infinite wisdom, what we don't know won't hurt us. Time and again, from the moment we step onto Penn's campus as freshmen until we've survived Senior Week, we are warned to keep our guard up, to be alert and personally responsible for our well-being, to pay attention to that sixth sense that tells even suburbanites when something's not right as they walk down city streets. Apparently, these tactics are no longer sufficient for the crime-infested alleys and sidewalks of University City. Since University Police cannot do anything to prevent crime west of 43rd Street, even if the victims are affiliated with the University, why bother talking about them? We'll tell you why: because a student mugged on Spruce Street while walking to Murphy's Tavern loses real money in that incident. And a faculty member whose car windows are smashed as the vehicle sits outside his 45th Street house has a valid claim to submit to his insurance company. The information about crimes occurring outside of University Police territory will still be available in Almanac (although subject to that publication's space limitations), Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said Thursday night. She added that "Nobody's hiding these crimes." We disagree. Crime data for the whole community should be available, in its often-frightening entirety, from the officers on whom we depend -- regardless of what section of West Philadelphia we call home.