Arrests for alcohol, drug use rise

2009 Annual Security Report

Though there were judicial referrals for drug abuse violations on campus in previous years, the report states that the number of arrests on campus for these violations went from zero in 2006 and 2007 to 15 in 2008.

“Most of the arrests for drug violations were made on non-students,” Public Safety deputy director Charles Davall said in an e-mail. “While there may be an increase in marijuana use on campus, we attribute the rise in these statistics to an increased number of students calling [the Department of Public Safety] because they either smell cigarette or marijuana smoke in the dorms and the increased presence of officers in the dorms on Residential Hall Patrol which started in 2007.”

There were two arrests on campus for liquor law violations in 2007 and 10 in 2008. There was, however, a decrease in the number of judicial referrals for liquor law violations, down from 120 in 2007 to 109 last year.

“The increase in the number of arrests for liquor law violations is directly attributable to increased efforts by the Borough Police to impact high-risk drinking, particularly for serving alcoholic beverages to underage persons,” Davall said. “Some of these arrests occurred on Prospect Ave. and some occurred on campus.”

The number of reported forcible sex offenses on campus also rose from 14 in 2007 to 18 in 2008.

“We attribute the rise in reported incidents [of sexual assault] over the past several years to the tremendous outreach that our SHARE [Sexual Harrassment/Assault Advising, Resources, and Education] office does on campus and the atmosphere of safety and support they create for survivors to report these incidents in a confidential manner,” Davall explained.

The number of cases of arson on campus increased to seven in 2008, from two the previous year and none in 2006. Davall said these were primarily incidents in which papers or bulletin boards were set on fire, adding that at no point was there any danger of a building catching fire.

The number of aggravated assault cases decreased by one last year, from six in 2007 to five in 2008. Burglary rates remained relatively constant, with 58 reported burglaries on campus in 2008, up from 57 the year before and only 37 in 2006.