On-campus drug violations resulting in judicial referrals dropped sharply in 2008, according to the Department of Public Safety’s 2009 Annual Security Report, released Tuesday evening.
In 2007, there were 46 drug abuse-related judicial referrals issued to Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services, now know as Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Services. In 2008, there were only five such referrals — an 89 percent drop — issued on main campus.
Alcohol violations reported dropped 12.9 percent in that same period, from 280 in 2007 to 244 in 2008, the report said.
Four of the five drug violations and 241 of the 244 alcohol violations last year took place in residence halls.
Chris Moody, the executive director of Housing and Dining Programs, said he feels there has been a downward trend in the referrals partially because of the improving academic profiles of AU’s recent freshman classes.
“It’s mostly freshmen and sophomores that live in the halls,” he said. “They’ve been a more civically engaged group.”
Between the main and Tenley campuses, four hate crimes were reported last year. Two were related to sexual orientation and two were related to religion. No hate crimes were reported in 2006 or 2007.
Public Safety Chief Michael McNair said these instances were “remarkably low.”
“I would not call it a disturbing trend,” he wrote in an e-mail.
New reporting standards mandated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 required Public Safety to expand their definition of hate crimes starting this year, the report said.
However, burglaries reported to the department more than doubled. There were 43 total main campus burglaries last year, compared to 19 the year before.
McNair said there was “no explanation” as to why there was an increase.
“We already took steps such as warning students to lock their doors, adding cameras and alarms and card reader systems,” McNair said. “Remember these crimes only go up to December 2008. So a lot has been done since then.”
Two drug-related arrests were also made on main campus last year, according to the report. There were no arrests related to alcohol violations.
The numbers in the report included incidents handled by Public Safety, other university departments such as Housing and Dining, as well as cases reported to AU by the Metropolitan Police Department, McNair said.
Overall, McNair said that he is pleased with the progress his department has made in improving on-campus safety.
“We have done well in helping students, staff and faculty feel safe when on the campus,” he said. “We need to do better in helping them help themselves in improving safety.”
You can reach this staff writer at eklapper@theeagleonline.com.
