Collegiate Times

According to the 2006 crime statistics released by the Virginia Tech Police Department, the most common offense in the Virginia Tech community is liquor law violations referred for disciplinary action.

Including on-campus, non-campus and public property violations in the vicinity of the Tech campus, there were a total of 872 liquor law violations as opposed to only 563 in 2005.

In addition, there were 376 liquor law arrests, representing a more than 90 percent increase from the previous year.

"Most of our crime on campus involves alcoholism in some shape or form or another," said Wendell Flinchum, VTPD chief.

Geoff Allen, community outreach officer for the VTPD, also felt alcohol related crimes were most prominent on campus.

"Alcohol is one of the biggest contributing factors to crime ... unfortunately," Allen said.

An alcohol violation may also lead to other serious crimes.

"People do things they don't normally do when they're consuming alcohol," Allen said.

Other crimes often in association with an alcohol offense include vandalism, destruction of property and assault, Flinchum said.

"The abuse of alcohol is related to a lot of different crimes that occur on this campus," Flinchum said.

In addition to the drinking violations, there was one murder/non-negligent manslaughter in 2006, and 11 forcible sex offenses.

There were also two robberies, one instance of aggravated assault, 51 documented burglaries, two motor vehicles thefts, and two accounts of arson. There were also eight arrests for possession of illegal weapons.

The statistics were released on Oct. 1 in concordance with the Jeanne Clery Act, which requires that crime rates for universities funded by the state are obtainable by the public.

Allen said the Clery Act started in Pennsylvania when a girl was raped on a street adjacent to her campus. Several acts of sexual assault continued on this street without any collaboration between the university and town police. The Clery Act was set up to reinforce interaction between the two sectors of police.

"(Tech police have) an excellent collaborative relationship with Blacksburg police," Allen said.

Flinchum said that public crime statistics for public universities are beneficial to parents and students who may be going through the application process.

"I think it is important for the public to see what kinds of crimes are occurring on college campuses," Flinchum said.

Allen agreed with Flinchum and said it is important for parents to know the crime statistics in the area of the university or college.

He also mentioned that the best way to resolve this issue is to promote education and awareness to students of what the law is and what the possible consequences are.

"If students are aware that they're not supposed to do something, but they do it anyways, then enforcement is the only other action that can take place," Flinchum said.

Allen is highly involved in the community outreach program for the VTPD, which allows him to give presentations regarding responsible drinking.

In 2006, the department gave over 150 presentations regarding safer alcohol consumption.

This year, Allen has given 130 presentations on the topic of alcohol alone.

Other organizations on campus are also trying to reduce the amount of alcohol-related crimes in the Tech community.

Allen said that a liquor law violation basically comes from underage drinking.

Other statistics involving alcohol, such as a drunk in public offenses, are not required to be published. This is because many alcohol charges are often assessed to the same individual.

"The good thing is that they try really hard not to double up with things on that list," Allen said.