TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Florida State University tops the list for having the highest violent crime count of any public college in the Sunshine State.
And it's the second consecutive year, according to the FBI's crime statistics.
25 violent crimes were reported on Florida State's campus last year, the highest number on the FBI's annual college crime report.
Despite the ranking, FSU students we spoke with say they feel safe on campus.
"I feel I'm pretty safe. I've been here a long time. I walk at all times, accompanied and unaccompanied, and I think there are so many resources around that help us," said FSU student Vivianne Asturizaga.
These statistics are based on offenses that were reported to FSU Police in 2017.
More than 40,000 students were enrolled at FSU in 2017, with close to 500,000 visitors annually.
The FBI report says college crime is affected by the number of on-campus residents, accessibility of the campus to outsider visitors, and enrollment size.
FSU's Chief of Police, David Perry, says urban campuses typically draw more incidents, which is why campus police are being pro-active.
"Property crimes are very typical. We're really are concerned with those personal crimes," said Chief Perry. "Those crimes that involve people and so with the enhancement of technology, our stronger partnerships with law enforcement agencies, we want to really be aggressive with those type of crimes that are impacting our students and our citizens."
And students say they see a strong police presence on campus.
"We have the FSU safe bus which is provided at night time if you don't want to walk alone," said FSU student Kadesha Reynolds. "And then the campus police are very proactive when it comes to anything that's going on on campus."
Chief Perry says there are more than 400 emergency call boxes set up around campus. If a student ever feels unsafe, needs help, or sees a crime happening, pushing the button on the call boxes will immediately call the FSU Police Department.
"We're also a 24 hour, 7 day a week organization, so the FSU police department never closes," said Chief Perry.
And FSU Police are making upgrades as well. Chief Perry says 12 officers have been added to his department, several new cameras are set up around the campus line, and FSU has an upgraded system for catching license plate numbers.
