Alcohol-related violations increased from zero to 46 percent and drug-related violations increased 300 percent on the Arizona State University downtown Phoenix campus from 2007 to 2008, according to the 2009 Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Report issued last week.
The downtown Phoenix campus had 46 liquor law violations, 20 drug law violations and three liquor law arrests in 2008. In 2007, there were zero liquor law violations, five drug law violations and zero liquor law arrests. The Tempe campus’ liquor law arrests doubled from 237 to 512 and drug law arrests increased 38 percent from 2007 to 2008.
Arizona State University downtown Phoenix campus police Commander Richard Wilson said the three most committed crimes on the campus were alcohol violations, drug violations and theft. There were 14 larceny theft cases in 2007 on the downtown Phoenix campus and zero in 2008. There were no motor vehicle theft cases in 2007 and 2008 on the downtown Phoenix campus.
The ASU downtown police plan to enforce drug and alcohol violations “more aggressively” this year to combat the significant increases from 2007 to 2008, according to Wilson.
“I think the alcohol and drug rates will increase with the increased enforcement,” Wilson said.
Wilson attributed the spike in violation and arrests to the opening of Taylor Place dorms. He estimated that there were about 400 students living in Taylor Place last year and 850 this year.
“The increase in population and size of the facility likely played a factor in increased activity,” Wilson said. “We added three additional officers and increased coverage to 24/7.”
Wilson explained that increased police coverage usually results in increased crime statistics because there are more officers available to do enforcement.
“That presents the spurious question of did crime rise or was it just a matter of more people to observe what had been going previously,” Wilson said. “Next year’s statistics will be a better measure of causality as we will have something to compare it to.”
Drug and alcohol violations on the Tempe campus and downtown Phoenix campus are handled the same way. Students who received violations were not arrested but referred for disciplinary action.
Students who are under 18 years old and cited with an alcohol violation “follow the same process” as those who are over 18 years old. For other criminal matters, the case is held until the student turns 18 and then it is filed, according to Wilson.
Eric O’Donnell, 19, a sophomore student living at Taylor Place, said he was surprised there were not more thefts.
“I’ve had a bike, a bike seat and bike headlights stolen even though it was parked right in front of Taylor Place locked up with a cable lock,” O’Donnell said.
Wilson said campus police are aware of the bike theft issue on campus. There have been seven reported bike thefts this year.
“We do a lot of education on crime prevention in relation to thefts and burglaries, and we’re setting up stings for bike thieves using bait bikes that we keep under surveillance,” Wilson explained.
The downtown Phoenix campus is a safe place despite statistics from the crime report, according to Wilson.
“There are many police and security entities in the downtown area that form a mosaic of coverage within our footprint,” Wilson explained. In addition to ASU and Phoenix police, there is Arizona Center security, Arizona Republic security and YMCA security.
“We all communicate and support each other to make our respective missions more effective,” Wilson said.
Swapnil Dukhande, 23, an ASU Tempe campus student who works on the downtown Phoenix campus, said the crime report statistics do not surprise him.
“The numbers were bound to increase,” Dukhande explained. “Drug dealers may sell to kids in the dorms, and with more cops and stricter laws, I’m not at all surprised.”
Dukhande often walks from work to the light rail station in downtown Phoenix at night, yet feels Tempe is the safer campus, despite what the crime statistics report.
“The campus is scattered downtown, so I don’t think it is safe at night,” Dukhande said. “I’ve walked home late at night without any problems on the Tempe campus,” he added.
O’Donnell agreed that the Tempe campus is safer than the downtown Phoenix campus, despite the statistics.
“The Tempe campus is contained, isolated and detached from the wildness of the city around it,” explained O’Donnell. “The downtown Phoenix campus is very small and in the middle of a place where crime rate is higher.”
Note: This story was previously published on the Downtown Devil blog.
