Thursday, October 25, 2001

TCU Police, university continue drug investigation
By James Zwilling
Staff Reporter

Investigations by Campus Life and TCU Police continued today following the suspensions of three Brachman Hall residents found with drugs in their residence hall rooms Monday, TCU officials said.

TCU Assistant Police Chief J.C. Williams said about four to five ounces of marijuana was obtained as evidence after an administrative inspection was completed by Campus Life.

Mike Russel, associate dean of campus life, said other drugs were found as well, although they had not yet been identified.

Russel said the male and female residents suspended will face a hearing within two weeks to determine university action against them. Campus Life did not release their names.

Penalties could range up to expulsion, Russel said.

A Fort Worth Police Department official said possession of four to five ounces of marijuana could carry penalties anywhere from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony with jail time depending on the circumstances in which it was found.

Williams said no criminal charges have been filed against the students at this time, but the department is conducting an investigation. Williams said he does not expect criminal charges to be filed. Although Campus Life and the TCU Police are conducting independent investigations, Williams said both parties are cooperating with one another.

“We’ll examine the information and if it leads to other persons, or to gain more information, we will pursue charges,” he said.

Williams said TCU Police did not participate in the actual search of the rooms because they did not have enough information to obtain a search warrant.

In order to obtain a search warrant for instance, Williams said, officers would either have to witness a drug deal or have drugs sold to a narcotics officer. Williams said information needed in order to obtain a search warrant in suspected drug cases, could include officers witnessing a drug transaction or narcotics officers participating in a drug sale. TCU Police had no such evidence in this particular case.

Without that evidence, Williams said, it would be unlikely that the district attorney would prosecute. Williams said even if the TCU Police had conducted the search, charges may never have been filed.

“Prosecution has not been very strong for marijuana charges in Fort Worth,” Williams said. “I think the overriding concern for safety was more important here. That’s why Campus Life is handling the students involved. Our main priority is to create a safe, drug-free environment.”

Russel said it was his office’s goal to maintain student safety and therefore followed the guidelines of the Administrative Inspection Policy which allows university officials to search on-campus housing.

Russel said his office was tipped off to the students’ rooms by another TCU student and acted quickly to protect the safety of other students on campus.

“We were concerned that they would have amounts that would be (distributed),” he said.

Russel said the amount found is what his office considers an amount that could be distributed and it was important that these individuals were unable to distribute it.

James Zwilling
j.g.zwilling@student.tcu.edu