Drinking arrests and referrals administered to UNC Wilmington students, both on campus and off campus, have led to a growing surge in many departments to take preventative and progressive action for the safety and well being of the university.

In 2014, UNCW recorded a total of 15 arrests and 655 referrals on campus involving liquor law violations. In comparison, during the 2015 year, there were a recorded total of 44 arrests and 457 referrals, according to the Annual Security Report.

According to University Police and their reports, since Jan. 1 there has been a total of 175 medical-related calls, 28 of which were alcohol-related and eight of which resulted in the subject’s transport to a local hospital.

Administered during late September to all students of UNCW, the Annual Security Report listed many of the campus policies involving a variety of violations, including that of alcohol possession and consumption.

As understood in the reports, the steep difference found between the numbers in referrals and arrests can be accounted for in various ways. Referrals, which are ordered by University Police, Housing and Residence Life, the Office of the Dean of Students and other authoritative parties, are typically first-time offenders who do not present any extraordinary factors and will subsequently be sent to the Office of the Dean of Students.

Chief of Police David Donaldson explains that an arrest typically occurs when an offender reaches either their second offense or exhibits extraordinary factors, such as possessing a fake ID or providing alcohol to underage individuals. In this case, the citation will be carried over to the court system.

“We are advocates of progressive enforcements,” said Donaldson as he noted the change that University Police has continued to pursue. Their timeline of events on building education, increasing policy regime and ensuring campus safety have acted as a direct response to the statewide call for change of underage substance abuse.

In May 2014, Governor Pat McCrory (R) signed an executive order that would initiate a pilot program for “creating a multi-agency task force aimed at reducing substance abuse and underage drinking.” UNCW is one of the six universities in the UNC System participating in the program, according to the governor’s website.

November 2014, just months after the Governor’s call to action, UNCW began a program coordinated with the District Attorney and the ABC Commission called “Talk it out,” a program to provide awareness about underage drinking. Shortly after, students saw an increase in University Police administering citations.

The culture of drinking surrounding college campuses has shown concerning outcomes both mentally and physically, and Donaldson stated that the “stats around drug and alcohol use show that students aren’t learning this in college.”

“I don’t want the relationship between police and the students to be ‘if you are drinking and see a police, run,’” said Donaldson, an advocate for building a community between University Police and the students of UNCW.

Donaldson hopes that predictable “police resources who are consistently in the field interacting with the community” will work towards “addressing security, traffic safety and enforcing alcohol” and other drug-related rules.

While preventative methods grow within the University Police Department, other organizations such as Crossroads, UNCW’s Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention and Education Program, are taking measurable actions with the subject of alcohol abuse.

Crossroads, which is known for carrying out programs across campus for orientation, UNI classrooms and other regularly scheduled events, is additionally responsible for acting as a contributor to the coordination of programs set in place for students after receiving a citation.

As part of a consequence for their actions, students’ required participation in either of the two UNCW-administered conduct classes are part of a larger effort to control repeat offenders and educate students on safe drinking.

 The Office of the Dean of Students will determine which program a student will complete according to his infraction, and from there, he will attend either BASICS, which stands for Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students, or CD, otherwise known as Challenging Decisions.

Ellen Joy, a junior who has received an alcohol referral but was ultimately found innocent, recalled that the processing of her citation was “extremely tedious and long.” However, after a process that took roughly 2-3 weeks, Joy feels as though she has gained a takeaway from her experience.

“I feel that, in a way, receiving a citation helps to better [the campus’s] safe drinking goals, because I know, personally for me, after having to go through that whole ordeal, I will never attend any type of party on campus where there is alcohol present,” said Joy.

Under the Clery Act, universities are required to gather and submit information on crime statistics. As a legal requirement, The Annual Security Report is compiled each year with accurate numbers on reported crimes of all fields.

Failure of a university to accurately and publicly report crime logs could result in a high cost fine, much like seen at Penn State, where the university failed to do so and received a 2.4 million dollar fine.

UNCW’s Annual Security Report, which includes its crime log, can be found on the UNCW Campus Police website.

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Assistant News Editor Malia Benison can be found on Twitter @maliabenison