ALCOHOL/DRUG-RELATED CRIMES AT UTAH STATE DOWN OVERALL
While underage drinking incidents involving Utah State University students are not as high profile as the Bush twins recent run-in with the law, the offense accounts for a large part of arrests on the northern Utah campus.
The good news is that other alcohol- and drug-related arrests such as DUIs, drug possession and open containers have seen a significant decline in the past year.
“Overall the amount of alcohol and drug related cases have lowered dramatically,” said Utah State University Police Chief Steven Mecham. “Last year the department faced 64 alcohol/drug related cases, while this year that number lowered to 45.”
“Unfortunately, minor in possession crimes are slightly on the rise,” said Mecham. Utah State has a large student body under the age of 21 and, because of this, minor in possession continues to be one of the largest crimes on campus. The amount of minor in possession crimes rose to 27 arrests, up from 20 arrests last year.
Utah State takes underage drinking and other crimes seriously, holding regularly scheduled crime prevention education programs, Mecham said. These programs deal with topics such as alcohol and drugs, rape and date rape, student wellness and other special request topics.
Theft on campus is down this year, with a 32 percent decline in the dollar loss due to theft. Mecham said that, generally, theft on campus is a crime of opportunity. He said people can make Utah State a safe campus by locking doors and windows when leaving a room or building, locking car doors, placing valuables in the trunk of the car and reporting all crime and suspicious incidents to the police.
Utah State has 12 sworn, state-certified peace officers with 122 years of police service. These police work around the clock to ensure that patrons and staff are safe on the university campus.
The Utah State Police Department compiles a statistical report each year to help students, faculty and staff better understand crime and its impact on the campus community.