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The Daily Tar Heel

NC institutions top charts in arrest numbers

In a year, UNC-Pembroke jumped from 186th in on-campus drug arrests to fifth in the nation.

Rehabs.com, an online resource for those dealing with drug addiction, conducted the study using 2012 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education.

The report largely focused on schools where the rates of on-campus arrests increased dramatically compared to a prior study that used data from 2009-11.

But the researchers say that leaps like this might not be a result of increased crime.

“By comparing the two studies, we were left wondering whether more arrests meant better policing, or a larger problem on campus,” said Kacie Rahm, spokeswoman for the research team that compiled the study, in an email.

Administrators at UNC-P attribute the higher arrest rate to better enforcement of the student conduct code.

“(The school’s public safety department officials) feel like they’re being proactive and really enforcing drug violations,” said UNC-P spokeswoman Sandy Briscar. “They’ve made it a point to not look the other way and to really crack down when they do find out about violations.”

Briscar said the aggressive approach to drug violations is helping prevent more serious crime.

The study equalized universities of varying sizes by expressing the arrests rate per 1,000 students. In 2011, UNC-P had 1.91 drug arrests per 1,000 students. The next year, the rate jumped to 11.32 arrests per 1,000 students.

Briscar said the dramatic increase in arrests between 2011 and 2012 coincides with UNC-P appointing a new associate vice chancellor for safety and emergency operations, Travis Bryant.

“We provided better training for our officers so they are more aware of what to look for and how to conduct those types of investigations,” Bryant said. “And we put our officers out into the community to make sure that they interact with our campus community and build that relationship so that folks report more violations.”

Several North Carolina schools topped the lists for other types of campus crime. N.C. Central University, Duke University and Winston-Salem State University all ranked in the top 10 for weapons possession arrests.

Gloria Laureano, WSSU dean of students, said it’s difficult to tell if the university’s high rate of weapons possessions arrests is a result of better enforcement of crime — or high crime in general due to the school’s downtown location.

Though the study does not provide a conclusion, researchers believe they accomplished raising awareness about drugs and crime enforcement on college campuses across the country.

“The college years will likely be the first time someone tries drugs or alcohol, so it is important to reach this age bracket,” Rahm said.

state@dailytarheel.com

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