Liquor law enforcement

Drunk people commit more crimes and drunk people are more often victims of crime. Is K-State doing enough to combat underage drinking at residence halls?

Here is a clip from a story from the University of Maryland that talks about that school's surge in enforcement of minimum age drinking laws.


The rate of liquor law violations served to students on the campus jumped by more than 31 percent in 2005 as part of what police describe as single-year crackdown on underage drinking, police statistics show.The surge in police activity aimed at busting student drinkers made this university the most statistically likely institution in the University System of Maryland for students to get pinched for drinking-related offenses. Frostburg State and Salisbury State, with rates of 28 and 23.5 students per thousand who received liquor law citations respectively, had the next highest proportion. The rate at this university was 38 students per thousand.University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said the increased enforcement was due in part to belief among police brass that more citations reduce the likelihood of other types of crimes. She also said police had traditionally received grant money to increase enforcement among students."People who are more drunk are more likely to be victims of crime, and people who are more drunk tend to commit more crimes," Atwell said. "If I issue someone a citation for alcohol, they aren't going to want to stay out later."It was unclear, however, why the increase had come in 2005. Atwell said beginning in 1993, state, local and federal grants enabled University Police to dedicate more resources to combating crime, including liquor law violations, but that money dried up in 2004. In 2006, the university provided funding for six more officers, which Atwell expects to have kept the citation rate the same last year as it was in 2005.Police have not published and declined to release statistics for 2006. The 2005 statistics were released as part of an annual review conducted by the University System of Maryland's governing body, the Board of Regents.Experts have said enforcement should be part of - but not the only - measure university officials take in combating crime on the campus.