Drug and theft arrests on campus more than doubled during the 2001-2002 school year from the previous year, according to University Police’s 2002 Annual Report.

Marijuana/drug offenses went from 40 arrest charges to 93 this year, an increase of 133 percent, according to University Police statistics.

University Police Lt. Dave Sprick said campus police took note of the increase in drug arrests and he attributes the statistic to increased training and increased efforts in drug investigation.

RAs and other officials call in tips to University Police, but these tips don’t always result in an arrest, he said. Active investigations based on collected information have been resulting in more arrests than in earlier years.

He said he couldn’t comment on the relationship between an actual rise in drug use and the increase in arrests, but there hasn’t been a correlation made between the two.

The statistics are compiled as part of the 2002 Annual Report from the University Police, a public record on the programming and activities of the campus police force.

Opinions on the arrests vary among students living on campus.

“People start acting stupid,” sophomore Jameson Hoffmann said of people using marijuana. “One guy earlier this year came to my room and claimed he lived there. He demanded to be let in. He was high.”

Hoffmann said he feels that drugs are a large problem on campus. Cracking down and giving out the maximum penalty is the way to treat the problem, he said.

Freshman William Steven’s opinion on marijuana use on campus differs from Hoffman’s.

“It’s not a big issue,” Steven said. “It’s better to do that (use marijuana) than drink. There are more accidents and deaths for alcohol-related offenses than marijuana offenses.”

Steven recalled an incident in the previous few days when police officers were called on his neighbors for alcohol use. He said his neighbors were getting in fights, were too drunk to control themselves and argued a lot. Steven said he had to help mediate a fight that broke out between two drunken neighbors.

He is not promoting the use of marijuana, he said, but he feels that there are misconceptions on its use.

“It’s not right that the fines for marijuana use is higher than fines for drinking offenses,” Steven said.

The fine for possession of marijuana is $349 and the fine for underage drinking, first offense is $225.

The increase in marijuana/drug arrests was slightly higher than arrests for theft. Theft arrests went up from 41 to 95 cases, increasing 132 percent, as stated in the report.

Sprick said theft is usually a crime of opportunity. University Police recorded a variety of thefts of different items.

“Musical instruments, cash, backpacks and bikes have been stolen,” Sprick said. “If it’s not bolted down, people will take it.”

Electronic theft is a new concern for the police, he said. People steal passwords and pin numbers, and it is best not to keep these in the open.

Reducing opportunities for people to steal valuable items by keeping them hidden and secured is the best means of preventing theft, he said.

“We know we’ve had thieves go through our parking lots, break a window and take things they like,” Sprick said.

Although theft arrests are up, an actual increase in the instance of theft isn’t confirmed by police.

Compiling the theft data was the responsibility of Susan Schaefer, program assistant for the campus police.

The increase is due in part to a former university employee who had a problem with compulsively stealing things, she said.

Another reason why the numbers increased so dramatically is because she alone compiles the data.

In previous years there were multiple people on the report and record keeping has become more consistent for thefts since she began keeping the records, she said.

Students are also reporting missing items more, she said.

Theft in the residence halls happens when people leave their doors open or they give out their door combination to many people, Sprick said.

“My friends leave their door open, unless they will be gone for class or for a while,” Hoffmann said.

Theft isn’t a problem for Hoffmann, he said.

Only a few people know the combination to his room, but they are trusted friends.

Steven said theft will always be a problem, but he thinks that the level of maturity of college students will help prevent theft.

Leaving his door open with his electronic equipment in his room doesn’t worry him, he said.

“I feel safe and I trust the people around me,” he said. “If it’s not theirs, they shouldn’t take it. There should be those values on a college campus.”