University of Iowa charges, arrests plummet

IOWA CITY - Two years after University of Iowa police announced plans to stop conducting checks in Iowa City's downtown bars, the number of alcohol-related criminal charges filed by the department has plummeted 69 percent, records show.

UI police in 2015 filed 255 charges for things like public intoxication, drunken driving, underage alcohol possession, open container and providing liquor to a minor, according to a Board of Regents report made public this week. That was a 43 percent drop from 2014, when UI police filed 451 such alcohol-related charges - which, at the time, already represented a 45 percent decrease from the 815 alcohol-related charges filed in 2013.

The drop in alcohol charges has hardly affected the UI's party-school reputation. In the fall, it held the No. 2 spot on the infamous Princeton Review list, where it fell in 2014 from No. 1 in 2013.

The decline in alcohol offenses helped drive down the total number of charges filed and arrests made by UI police in recent years.

The officers filed a total of 699 charges in 2015, down 28 percent from the 972 in 2014 and 62 percent from the 1,819 in 2013. The department made 462 arrests in 2015, down 39 percent from the 759 in 2014 and 67 percent from the 1,406 in 2013, according to board reports.

At the same time, the total number of offenses and incidents university police reported in recent years - which includes those that did not result in charges or arrests - has remained fairly static, holding steady from 2,309 in 2014 to 2,303 in 2015, according to the new report that will be discussed Wednesday at a Board of Regents safety and security subcommittee meeting.

Lucy Wiederholt, interim director of the UI Department of Public Safety, said her department's decision to end downtown bar checks along with improved behavior before, during and after home football games is behind the decline.

'Football-related alcohol charges have historically made up a significant portion of arrests,” Wiederholt said in an email to The Gazette. 'Football season-related arrests continue to be down this year. People are learning the rules and have been more cooperative.”

UI officials have credited some of that improved behavior to a 2010 'Think Before You Drink” campaign, which ramped up enforcement of open container and drinking laws around Kinnick Stadium. Wiederholt also said a city ordinance banning 19- and 20-year-olds from bars after 10 p.m. has helped.

'We're really starting to experience the impacts of that policy,” she said.

UI police in 2014 discontinued bar checks, citing effective Iowa City policing of the downtown district and a community vote to keep the 21-only ordinance in place.

'In a move to return to its original mission, the UIPD focuses on patrolling campus while also including the downtown area as part of a larger directed patrol effort,” Wiederholt said.

Like UI police, Iowa State University's Department of Public Safety has seen decreases - although more modest - in total charges and arrests recently, including those related to alcohol.

ISU police filed 21 percent fewer charges in 2015 than in 2014, and officers made 22 percent fewer arrests last year than the year prior.

ISU alcohol-related charges in 2015 were down 27 percent from 2014. And those numbers - like at the UI - have been following a downward trend.

ISU interim police Chief Aaron DeLashmutt said multiple factors could be in play, including ISU President Steven Leath's decision in 2014 to discontinue the annual Veishea spring celebration.

Leath ended the 92-year tradition, which was named after some colleges on campus when it began, citing bad behavior and riots during that year's event that seriously injured a student and caused property damage.

'The lack of Veishea could have had an impact with fewer people coming to Ames,” DeLashmutt said.

As ISU enrollment has swelled, administrators have had to lease off-campus housing that ISU police still are responsible for patrolling. Have a larger territory requiring more officer commuting time, which could also explain the decreases.

'We are spread across Ames now,” he said. 'So that might have an impact.”

ISU, unlike at UI, saw a corresponding overall decline in total offenses and incidents in 2014 and 2015. And the department has been aggressive in its outreach and education efforts, which DeLashmutt said might mean improved behavior is behind the falling numbers.

'Hopefully it's a good thing,” he said

Unlike the UI and ISU, though, the University of Northern Iowa has seen modest rises and falls in its charge and arrest totals in recent years, records show.

Smoking statistics

Regarding smoking-related behavior on the campuses, UI police reported significantly more complaints than the other universities.

UI police responded to 473 prohibited smoking calls in 2015 and issued 61 tickets, according to the report.

And, Wiederholt said, those numbers represented a change in statistical reporting and could have been higher. The university last year combined its warning and citations for both police and security officers.

This year it reported just smoking enforcement calls handled by UI police. If smoking calls handled by UI security officers - 429 - are added, the total smoking-enforcement contacts jump to 902.

ISU police took 44 smoking-related calls and UNI police responded to 27 smoking complaints. Neither campus reported issuing any tickets.

Proactive security

And all three campuses have been focusing on improving and maintaining safe and secure campuses by upgrading building technology, mandating training for campus members and updating training techniques, according to the board report.

Some of the training relates to sexual violence, which has become a growing issue across college campuses; and some addresses the threat of mass shootings on campus, which also have become more common nationally.

In the report, both UI and ISU report institutional training measures around violent incidents.

UI's 'violent incident survival training” incorporates environmental factors, technology, communication, law enforcement and action from those in danger.

'The response options that are taught specialize in preparing schools, universities, churches, hospitals, and workplaces in how to respond to a violent attack on large numbers of people and increase the odds of survival,” according to the report.

UI officers trained as instructors in the techniques have educated 5,119 faculty, staff, students and visitors.

ISU similarly provided 282 prevention and outreach programs in the past year to faculty, staff and students, educating much of the campus on the topics of workplace violence, personal safety, alcohol laws, sexual assault awareness, identity theft and social media safety.

In 2013, ISU police also began providing instruction around violent incident responses to all future teacher education graduates as part of their licensure requirements for certification.

Proactively, the universities highlighted threat assessment efforts - including a 'behavior risk management protocol” at the UI. That protocol is an attempt to respond with a 'planned comprehensive approach to the continuum of behaviors that could lead to hostility and violence in the workplace.”

Using a clinical and consultative approach, the protocol aims to 'ensure a safe and civil workplace for all (UI) employees by addressing any related individual or environmental issues that may contribute to hostility, violence, or physical danger on the job.”

All three regent universities also highlighted ways technology is enhancing the physical safety and security of its buildings. They all use some form of electronic access system and have video surveillance.

And UI officials, according to the report, are focused on the challenge of providing security for all major buildings 'without unduly compromising convenience and the campus culture of openness.”

To help guide that discussion, the university has convened an 'access and security steering committee” that has created an 'access and security strategic plan.” The committee, which includes representatives from facilities management, the provost's office, information technology and public safety, will review issues around security assessment and priority, design standards, key card issuance and policy.