A Way to Educate Students on Crime at Longwood

By Alex Myers
Rotunda ReporterHow many Longwood students can define a liquor law violation? In general terms, a liquor law violation is when state or local laws or ordinance prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages. In addition, the violation also stands if intoxicating liquor is involved, maintaining unlawful drinking places, bootlegging, operating a still, giving it to a minor, underage possession, illegal transport, drinking in public, or any attempts to commit any of the above acts. Contrary to popular belief, liquor law violations are very abundant in today's college towns. Comparing liquor law violations from three of Virginia's colleges from the years 2006 to 2008, the numbers were astounding.

In 2008, the Longwood University Police Department recorded 430 liquor law violations. This is an increase from the two previous years, where there were 414 in 2007 and 336 in 2006, which totals 1,180 violations in three years. With 12 campus police officers and 4,700 current students, Longwood's number of violations was the highest when compared to the University of Mary Washington (UMW) and Bridgewater College (BC).

UMW welcomes 4,000 students to their campus each year; with 12 working officers they only had a total of 924 liquor law violations from 2006 to 2008. In 2008 they recorded their lowest amount of 244 violations, while they had 331 in 2007 and 349 in 2006.

BC only has 1,500 active students enrolled, but the police department records showed a high number of violations. In 2008 there were 384 documented liquor law violations; in 2007 there were 285 and a high of 447 in 2006. BC employs seven officers and monitors 1,500 students, but had the second highest total number of violations of the three colleges at 1,116.

But why the high numbers, especially at Longwood? Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology Dr. John Barbrey said, "Students don't have to leave their constitutional rights at the school house gate." This quote addresses the predicament college students find themselves in when entering a new environment, particularly since students may not know their constitutional rights.

Longwood's Campus Police has many crime prevention programs already in place, such as Help Eliminate Auto Theft (HEAT), the Nightwalkers Escort Service, Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), personal safety seminars and "refuse to be a victim" programs. These programs are great crime prevention techniques, but they are geared towards crime that is rare on Longwood's campus. In comparison to the two recorded sexual assault cases in spring 2008, there were 40 documented underage possessions and drunk in public (DIP) cases, which fall under liquor law violations. Although Longwood supplies crime prevention programs, with their high numbers of liquor law violations each year, there is a need for crime education programs in addition to prevention.

Department Chair of the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Studies, Associate Professor and Director of the Archaeology Field School Dr. Brian Bates said the idea of a crime education program being a part of the Longwood Seminar (LSEM) curriculum is "a good venue, LSEM is to get people oriented with Longwood," as a new student. Administrative & Program Specialist for the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Studies Sharon Perutelli said, "I would of [have] thought it would be in LSEM." Perutelli also said Longwood should "devote one class to this." LSEM would be a good place for Law Enforcement to educate incoming freshmen on the effects of liquor law violations on themselves, family and friends and to also educate students on their constitutional rights as a citizen. "Don't give up your citizenship as a student," said Bates.

Today, there is crime prevention through education program at Longwood that is set up to help students know their constitutional rights and how to use them in certain situations. "The trick is to be fully informed," said Bates. The closest thing Longwood has to crime prevention through education programs is Criminal Justice Studies, a major dedicated to the education of the United States criminal law processes. According to Bates, criminal justice majors do have an advantages on the non-criminal justice major's lack of education of constitutional rights.

By encompassing crime prevention through education programs in the LSEM curriculum, Longwood freshmen would be educated on the constitutional rights they hold as a United States citizen and the impact a violation of the law can have on their record both during and after college.

Liquor law violations are on the rise across college campuses in Virginia; the step to take to prevent more increases to educate students about their rights. "There is power in ignorance, if someone is ignorant of their rights, they still know what not to do," said Bates. Longwood University can take the first preventive step in averting a continual increase in liquor law violations; the rest left up to the beholder of the beverage.