Arrests do not rely on ranking, IUPD says

Since IU earned the reputation in the eyes of the Princeton Review as the No. 1 party school in August 2002, members of the campus community seem to wonder what effect that title has had on the way the IU Police Department enforces alcohol laws on campus.\nWith arrests on the rise in 2002, IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said the "tough-on-alcohol-crime" message pushed by the IU administration may have had an effect on the rise in arrests.\nIn 2001, the IUPD reported making 93 drunk driving arrests, 29 arrests for public intoxication and 363 arrests for illegal possession, according to IUPD statistics.\nIn 2002, drunk driving arrests fell to 53, public intoxication increased to 57 and the number of arrests for illegal posession soared to 594. \nTo date in 2003, drunk driving arrests total 26, while public intoxication numbers 30 and illegal possession is lower than usual at 29. All of the numbers, however, reflect only cases of confirmed IU students being charged with an alcohol-related offense.\nSome people say the number of alcohol arrests made after the 2002 ranking reflects IUPD's desire to help reduce the image of the reputation by making more arrests. \nBut Minger said the numbers have no link to the party school reputation, whether they are lower or higher.\nMinger said the higher numbers may be a result of specific patrols for alcohol-related offenses. \n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.