A decreasingly sober outlook
Alcohol-related arrests increase nationwide
By Ben Baynton, staff writer
Posted on November 6, 2006

The overall rate of alcohol-related arrests across campuses nationwide is rising, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education.

Locally, statistics from the JMU Department of Public Safety show that liquor law arrests are up from 82 in 2004 to 104 in 2005.

“It’s definitely a school for drinkers,” sophomore Alex Hecker said. “People are always going to get really drunk.”

Although JMU’s Public Safety statistics show trends of 2005, 2006 is not an exception in terms of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related offenses.
 
In fact, according to a 2006 report by the JMU Office of Substance Abuse, 81.2 percent of JMU students said they had consumed alcohol in the last 30 days, compared to 75.1 percent in 2004. JMU students drink 2.4 more drinks a week than the national average.

“People do it because they think they’ll fit into the crowd,” junior Sarah Roquemore said. 

Not only do JMU students report drinking more alcohol than the national average, but the same report showed that 60 percent said they had at least five beers in a single instance in the past two weeks, and 25 percent said they have had more than five beers on three to five occasions in the past week.

One of the benefits for students on campus is that should they be caught violating the liquor law by University Police, their case can be referred to JMU’s Office of Judicial Affairs instead of an arrest being on their record.

But most students are still unsure about how to interact with police in the context of drinking.

“Or job is not so much enforcement as it is creating individual change,” said Josh Bacon, director of Judicial Affairs. “We help reinforce community standards.”

JMU Police patrol commander, lieutenant Robert Landes, agreed.

“Our main concern is the safety of the person that drinks too much,” Landes said.
 
However, students caught by the Harrisonburg Police Department face arrest, because of zero-tolerance policies and the lack of less punitive options like Judicial Affairs. Most students fear future repercussions from an arrest on their record.

“The first thing I think when I see a cop isn’t ‘phew, I’m safe,’” junior Kyle Evans said. “In the context of drinking, [the cop] is the threat.”

Many students echoed this sentiment.

“There’s always a stigma with the police on the negative side,” Roquemore said.

The police do not view arrest as entirely punitive, though.

“The issue is, ‘If we let them go back to their dorm, will they be safe?’” Landes said. He added that at the jail, a medical professional is on duty 24 hours a day to keep watch over detainees. 

“They’re there to protect the students,” Bacon said. “The students really ought to be thankful.”

Regardless of whatever the police hope the JMU community thinks of them, the students will continue to have a love-hate relationship with them.

“I’m more worried about legal trouble than being beat up by a gang,” Evans said. “But the police protect me from the gang.”