Liquor law violations decreased by nearly twenty percent in 2010, according to Public Safety’s annual report.
The report released Oct. 2011 in compliance to the Clery Act, a law passed by Congress in 1990 that mandated the report’s yearly release for schools receiving federal financial aid.
This year’s report saw a decline in nearly all areas of California Baptist University major campus crimes.
“At some levels, it’s a good thing that our major crimes decreased, but at other levels, I know that the minor—the little crimes of opportunity—probably didn’t decrease,” Jim Walters, director of public safety, said.
According to the report, liquor law violations are, “The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.”
In 2008, 73 known liquor law violations occurred on-campus and in on-campus residence halls and in 2009, 52 liquor law violations occurred. Last year, 33 liquor law violations occurred.
“I think they are an issue nationwide and we’re just a part of that picture,” Walters said. “One of the things I did identify early on are numbers were going up in alcohol violations, but they were going up because of single events with large numbers of people in them.”
“We’ve been better supervisors of those activities.”
In addition to the federal liquor law, CBU has it’s own alcohol policy.
The student handbook states, “possession of alcoholic beverage, use of alcoholic beverage, and/or being under the influence of alcohol, is not permitted on University premises or at University-sponsored or supervised activities, regardless of a student’s age.
Liquor law violations were not the only on-campus offenses to decrease in the 2010 school year: there were 12 burglaries compared to 16 the previous year, there were six motor vehicle thefts compared to three and there were six drug law violations compared to 24.
Zero hate crime cases were reported the previous year, as well as zero arrests made.
“Safety of any population is about three entities working together,” Walters said. “The citizen component working together, with the administrative component, with the safety component, which is us.”
