By Samuel Rubenfeld and Julia Gardiner
Alcohol violations resulting in judicial referrals increased by nearly 47 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to the annual campus safety report released by Public Safety on Tuesday.
Liquor law referrals jumped to 377 last year, including 34 given for actions committed at a non-campus facility, a four-fold increase from 2005. "That's Twin Oaks," said the director of Public Safety, Ed Bracht, referencing the increase in referrals issued off campus.
Referrals have increased 165 percent on alcohol violations since 2004, according to the report. Bracht attributes that change only to an increased number of students drinking on campus, not any policy of enforcement Public Safety has implemented. "We were [issuing summonses to everyone involved] then, too," Bracht said. "There were just more people partying in the rooms."
However, because of a change in policy that began in late 2006, Bracht expects the numbers to drop for 2007. "You're going to see a reduction this year. We altered the way summonses are given," Bracht said.
In September of last year, Public Safety worked out a policy with the Dean of Students office to only issue summonses to the owners of the offending room in the case of an alcohol violation.
The shift was in response to a large number of students going to the Dean of Students claiming that they were given summonses for being in the presence of alcohol and were not actually drinking themselves. "We were giving everybody summonses, but we realized not everybody was drinking," Bracht said. "What we should be doing is holding the people who live in the room more accountable."
Burglaries have increased as well, with 48 committed in 2006, compared to 40 in 2005. But there were less burglaries last year than 2004, where 51 were committed, according to the report. Public Safety treats burglaries as any instance reported in which someone removed a student's possession from the room without that student's knowledge. "When you say burglary, it sounds very ominous," said Bracht, who attributed many instances to students having people they don't know in their rooms and later finding something missing.
The issue has been one commonly reported. "That statistic remains constant throughout the years," Bracht said. However, he made the distinction between burglary and robbery, which involves a weapon and is much less frequent on campus.
Preventative measures installed such as slam-lock doors in almost all residence halls have consistently decreased the instances of crime on campus. "All these things we've put in have reduced it over the years," Bracht said, citing the statistics for 1999, when there were over 100 burglaries on campus.
Illegal weapon possessions have doubled, from one violation two years ago, to two last year, the report said.
As alcohol violations, burglaries and illegal weapon possessions have increased, sex offenses, drug law violations and motor vehicle theft have decreased, the report said. Six forcible sex offenses occurred last year, down from seven the prior year, the report said.
Judicial referrals for drug violations has decreased by 40 percent from 2005 to 2006, the report said. One hundred forty-seven referrals were issued last year, whereas 207 were issued the year before. Again, Bracht attributes the decrease to a decline in student use, not any change in policy at Public Safety. "There's not as many people using drugs," Bracht said. "Enforcement has remained the same."
But arrests for drug law violations increased from one in 2005 to four in 2006, according to the report.
Referrals for drug activity in non-campus facilities decreased by nearly 300 percent, from six issued last year to 23 in 2005, the report said.
Motor vehicle theft has decreased from three in 2005 to one in 2006, according to the report.
The number of robberies did not change from any of the last three years, with two each committed in 2004, 2005 and 2006 according to the report.
No homicides occurred on campus since 2004. "I would hope there's never one here," said Bracht, adding, "Statistically I think we're good. Would we like to get better? Sure."