Annual crime reports: Arrests for liquor law violations up at EMU and U-M
Larcenies and sexual assaults were down and liquor law violations were up at the University of Michigan while drug and liquor law violations were up at Eastern Michigan University in 2011, according to statistics released by police.
The University of Michigan Department of Public Safety and the Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety released their annual reports covering 2011 on Monday. At U-M, the most striking change saw the number of larcenies reported to police fall to 617 after being at 840 reports in 2010 and 786 in 2009.
U-M police spokeswoman Diane Brown said the department works hard to educate the university community on how to prevent larcenies and the decrease represents a normal ebb and flow of reports.
“We continue to work with our community to raise awareness that larcenies usually can be avoided by securing belongings at all times,” she said. “That’s been a focus of our department for years and we continue to explore ways to remind people to keep belongings secure.”
Many of the statistics in U-M’s annual report showed reports of crimes staying at or near previous years’ levels. However, there were some exceptions.
The number of liquor law violations referred to U-M police by non-police agencies shot up in 2011, reaching 855 reports as compared to 483 in 2010 and 655 in 2009. Drug law violations were down to 202 from 208 in 2010 but way up compared to 2009’s 54. Police arrested 193 people for liquor law violations and 102 for drug law violations. Both of those numbers were decreases from 2010.
Brown said the number of liquor law and drug law violations mostly came from campus dormitories and represent the number of people investigated by a non-police agency for possibly breaking a law. Not everyone included in those statistics were drinking or doing drugs, she said.
“That is how many were investigated in some non-police review process, not how many were found to be in violation,” she said.
A spokesman at University Housing declined to answer questions regarding any changes in policy or statistics collection because the person in the department who deals with reports is on vacation.
At EMU, drug law violations more than doubled and liquor law arrests rose as well. There were 115 drug law violations reported to EMU police, as compared with 50 in 2010 and 35 in 2009. Police arrested 63 people for liquor law violations, up from 51 in 2010 and 54 in 2009. Of the 63 people arrested, 52 of those people were in university dormitories at the time of the offense.
Overall, there actually were less liquor law violations that didn't result in arrests in 2011 than 2010 — 103 as compared to 230 the year before. Drug law arrests were up to 53 — 30 of those in dorms — in 2011, compared to 32 in 2010 and 28 in 2009.
EMU police Chief Bob Heighes said in an email there was no change in enforcement policy that led to the increased numbers.
“We have not had a change in our enforcement policy,” he said. “We continue to work with the Housing Department on training of housing staff and reporting possible drug use.”
Two officers at the EMU police are assigned to the dorms and foot patrol officers also are in the area on a regular basis, he said.
Sexual assault reports to police decreased at U-M, falling to eight from 15 in 2010. There were five sexual assaults reported to EMU police in 2011, one more than was reported in 2010 or 2009.
According to the report, there were 14 fires on U-M property in 2011, causing a total of approximately $86,000 in damage. However, the majority of that damage was done in a fire at Baits House that damaged $75,000 worth of property and a fire at West Quadrangle dormitory, causing $10,000 in damage.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Chase Ingersoll
Wed, Oct 3, 2012 : 12:08 p.m.
Geoff: Thanks for that note. I would think that the "broken window" window theory also applies to schools in that if you make the "interdiction" when someone's substance use is drawing attention to them, you end up preventing a litany of crimes that make the front page including the DUI, batteries, rapes, and vandalism. Further, I know from experience that people who are visibly intoxicated are the least likely to stop at that level of intoxication and even if they are not going to commit a crime, it is highly probably that they will overdoes themselves, or physically injure themselves and end up in the emergency room shortly thereafter. Further, any time that the police show up and arrest the worst offender, even if it is just to have them ride in the paddy wagon for a couple of hours, book and then release them to call a friend to pick them up. The sobering affect on the crowd when they are pulled out and how this can affect their friends who have to pick them up that night and who will talk the next day is of great benefit to everyone. So to me, there is a perfect correlation - increase the drug and alcohol consumption and possession arrests and decrease the other crimes.
Geoff Larcom
Wed, Oct 3, 2012 : 11:43 a.m.
Note: Another statistic worth noting in the annual report is that burglaries, among the most frequently reported of all crimes on America's college campuses, have continued to drop dramatically at Eastern Michigan University. Campus burglaries decreased by 55 percent from 2010 to 2011, falling from 29 to 13, according to the EMU Department of Public Safety's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. The report, which includes statistical information from 2009 through 2011, also shows a significant percentage drop in the burglaries in Eastern's residence halls and student apartments. That fell approximately 31 percent, from 13 in 2010 to just nine last year. Note: Geoff Larcom is executive director of media relations at EMU.