But perhaps the simplest answer for the crime increase is Harvard's urban location. Crime is up throughout Cambridge--by four percent so far this year.

Robberies--armed and unarmed--are up seven percent this year.

(Police say this is not necessarily a cause for concern; last year's total was the lowest in 25 years).

Nonetheless, students often forget what lies at their doorstep.

Right outside Harvard's gates, the Pit in Harvard Square is one of Cambridge's hotbeds of criminal activity. Each weekend brings HUPD and CPD calls to the Pit and Au Bon Pain. So much so, in fact, that on Friday and Saturday night, HUPD stations an officer there.

According to CPD's police reports, in the past three years, the Pit has been the site of nine aggravated assaults, three simple assaults, two street robberies, ten drug arrests, one disorderly conduct arrest, one drinking in public arrest, three pickpocketings and one weapons violation arrest--and that does not count crimes reported to HUPD or the MBTA Police.

Just in the year alone, CPD records show there have been 12 calls for intoxicated people, eight disturbance calls, seven fight calls, one gang call, one overdose and 11 suspicious person calls in the Pit.

But while students often have not been vigilant on campus safety in the past--the success of the Yard Burglar last fall in Matthews Hall depended on unlocked doors--HUPD says a watchful campus has helped their efforts this fall.