Campus Crimes Lower In 2007

10/6/2008

The Emory Wheel

By Tasha Posid

The number of reported crimes on campus decreased by more than 39 percent in 2007, according to the Emory Police Department's annual security report released Thursday.

"The community has been our second pair of eyes and ears, reporting suspicious persons and activities," EPD officer Marvin Paulson said of the drastic decrease.

The drop in crime mostly reflects the drastic decline in liquor law violations and burglaries on campus.

Liquor law violations dropped 45 percent, from 320 cases to 176 cases. Although these numbers indicate a significant decrease, Paulson and EPD Lt. Cheryl Elliott said these numbers are still too high.

Paulson attributed the decline in reported violations to the effectiveness of the University's amnesty program, which gives amnesty to students under the influence of alcohol who call EPD or seek medical help for intoxicated friends, and the increase in alcohol education programs like AlcoholEdu, an interactive multimedia program that tests students in residence halls, fraternities and sororities on issues related to drinking.

Liquor law violations that do not culminate in arrest are referred to the Division of Campus Life for disciplinary action.

There were only three liquor law arrests last year, two of which involved Emory students. The third involved a visitor unaffiliated with the University.

The number of burglaries on campus also dropped 36.7 percent, from 49 cases to 31 cases. Paulson said that despite the drop, burglary cases are still the most numerous.

"Burglary is still the highest category but it went down a lot this past year," Paulson said.

Paulson said that 24 of the cases occurred in student residence halls and that in most of the cases, residents' rooms had been left unsecured when the burglary occurred.

"There are opportunities there for residents to take some more initiatives to increase awareness about risks involved with leaving their door unlocked," Paulson said.

Paulson said that this year EPD officers participated in more programs and continued to work well with Residence Life staff to increase safety and awareness in the residence halls.

Students had the opportunity to register and engrave their personal property, such as bicycles and computers, in their individual residence hall lobbies during Operation I.D., which is sponsored by the EPD.

EPD also hosted its annual Safety Fair and created "table talks," information session hosted by EPD officers and cadets.

"There was also an increase in the number of people in the EPD Crime Prevention Unit, which increased from two to four people," Elliott said. "That's a 100 percent increase in manpower."

Elliot said that the decrease in burglaries and crime on campus is the direct result of such increased attention on crime suppression.

According to Paulson, DeKalb County jurisdiction statistics are included in this category and account for a portion of the reported crimes in the Emory area, including incidents at off-campus residences and at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Although burglary and liquor violations decreased during the 2007 year, drug law violations increased by 20 percent, from 25 cases to 30 cases, 14 of which occurred in residence halls. Drug law arrests however, decreased from eight cases to five cases.

All of the cases of drug law arrests involved less than one ounce of marijuana. Two of the cases involved individuals not affiliated with the University, Paulson said.

Robbery on campus decreased by 83 percent, from six cases to one.

"There have been more frequent patrols that are more visible to the community," Paulson said.

Motor vehicle thefts decreased from seven cases to one last year. The only case occurred at the Emory University Hospital after someone stole a car from valet parking services.

There were no non-forcible sex offenses last year, but forcible sex offenses increased from nine cases to 10 cases. Forcible sex offenses include rape, sexual battery and aggravated sodomy.

Take Back the Night and similar educational movements have reduced the number of forcible sex offenses, Paulson said.

There were two cases of illegal weapons possession that led to arrests last year.

"This is another one of our biggest concerns," Elliott said. "That was two cases too many."

One arrest occurred at a fraternity party when a visitor brought a handgun onto campus.

The second case involved a juvenile carrying a knife in plain view during a summer program on campus, although he did not use the knife as a weapon at any point.

There were no cases of murder or non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, arson or illegal weapons possessions referred to Campus Life for disciplinary action. There were also no hate crimes reported.