Alcohol-related arrests on the Tempe campus doubled between 2007 and 2008, according to the 2009 ASU Police Crime Report released last week.
After a decrease in arrests from 2006 to 2007, the number increased by 275 in 2008, according to the report, with 236 liquor law arrests in 2007 and 512 arrests in 2008.
The increase is not necessarily due to an increase in drinking at ASU, but increased enforcement, said ASU Police spokesman Cmdr. Jim Hardina.
“I don’t think there is any more or less drinking than there has been in any year,” he said. “Obviously with more students, you are going to have more of everything.”
Alcohol enforcement is more important than enforcing some other crimes on campus, Hardina said.
“Alcohol violations are taken very seriously,” he said. “It is very rare that we will have a rape, a fight, an aggravated assault and those types of crimes where alcohol is not involved.”
Hardina said students question why there is more alcohol enforcement than bike theft enforcement, but it is because alcohol-related issues are more dangerous.
“That’s why we put a lot of attention on alcohol violation, which is why you are going to see a rise,” he said. “When there is more enforcement, there is more identification.”
The police department is also working closely with other departments at ASU to deal with alcohol problems, he said.
“Since our enforcement is more efficient, you are going to wind up having more arrests,” Hardina said.
The report also showed a decrease in campus-wide theft, but an increase in thefts in residential halls.
The best way to prevent common bike thefts, office burglaries and auto burglaries is through education, he said.
“Almost all of those thefts can be avoided with basic, fundamental knowledge,” he said.
Journalism sophomore Alex Paris said she was the victim of theft during her first semester at ASU in fall 2008.
Paris often left her dorm room door unlocked, she said, and about $80 and a digital camera were stolen from her purse while she was in the building.
“I didn’t think anyone would just walk into my room,” she said.
Hardina said the college-campus environment, where people constantly walk in and out of buildings, makes it extremely difficult to locate people who steal from on-campus buildings.
“There are very few office buildings on campus that don’t have a high volume of traffic,” he said. “A random person walking through the hallways is completely normal.”
Some people figure nothing bad can happen to them because they are on a crowded college campus and don’t take precautions, Hardina said.
“You don’t leave your house unlocked at home, so don’t leave your house unlocked at school either,” he said.
Hardina said the department uses undercover officers to help catch suspects in theft cases because it can be difficult to find them.
“It’s almost impossible to catch people stealing bikes or stealing laptops out of offices or breaking into cars,” he said.
An increase in alcohol-related arrests is also a result of targeted enforcement for the safety of students, Hardina said.
“The biggest problem on college campuses around the country is alcohol abuse,” he said. “A lot of the problems that hurt students are related to alcohol abuse.”
The amount of alcohol abuse and arrests won’t likely stay this high permanently, Hardina said, but may take a few semesters to decrease.
“It has been a long-term problem and it’s going to take long-term solutions,” he said.
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu.
