Alcohol and Drug-Related Incidents Have Drastically Decreased Since 2014

Substance-related arrests and disciplinary referrals at UC San Diego have almost declined in half since 2014, according to statistics in the 2016 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released on Sept. 29.  

Specifically, drug abuse arrests declined by 46 percent and liquor law arrests fell 21 percent. Disciplinary referrals, where students are referred to campus staff for breaking the student code of conduct, dropped 40 percent for drug abuse incidences and 48 percent for liquor law incidences between 2014 and 2016.

“Since 2014-2015, UC San Diego has continued to refine processes relating to Clery Act training and reporting requirements, as well as improve education and training in advance of events where alcohol use is anticipated,” said Laura Margoni, Interim Senior Director of Strategic Communications at UC San Diego, in an email to The Triton. Margoni also noted that the police department reported an overall decrease in parties and alcohol-related events on campus in 2015 and 2016, compared to 2014.

In addition to the drastic changes in liquor law and drug abuse actions, the report indicated an increase in hate crimes, with three reported hate crimes on campus compared to zero in both 2014 and 2015. Of these hate crimes, one was on the basis of race, one on the basis of ethnicity, and one on the basis of gender identity.

Rape and domestic violence statistics largely remained the same, with 10 reported cases of both rape and dating violence, five reported cases of domestic violence, and nine reported cases of stalking, all in 2016.

The crime statistics in the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report are required to be released by The Clery Act. The act requires all postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV student financial aid programs such as the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans to release annual crime statistics, develop and utilize crime prevention measures, and implement emergency and timely warning notification systems.

Aleena Karamally is a staff writer at The Triton.