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Town, campus release 2007 crime reports |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
 | Post
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by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
Alcohol-related incidents increased for both the Town of Boone and the Appalachian State University campus in 2007, year-end crime reports indicate.
The number of campus arrests for alcohol violations increased 170 percent from 2006.
DWI arrests for the Town of Boone increased 20 percent and incidents of DWI for drivers with provisional licenses increased 43 percent. Campus DWIs increased 35 percent, according to the reports.
Two reported rapes on campus showed an increase from 2006, when there were none.
For the town, one rape was reported, down from five in 2006. However, rape has long been considered
nationally to be one of the most severely underreported crimes, University Police Chief Gunther E.
Doerr said.
In 2006, town DWI arrests were down and traffic-related crashes were up, reports indicate.
The police set the goal of increasing arrests and impacting the crash rate for 2007, Town of Boone
Police Chief Bill Post said.
“It’s hard to say that increasing arrests will impact the crash rate,” Post said. “There are a lot of
variables that go into it… We didn’t set a numeric goal at all. We wanted to increase DWI arrests,
which we did, and hoped it would impact the crash rate, which it did. It’ll be interesting to see if this
trend continues.”
 | Doerr
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In 2007, overall alcohol-related crashes were down and DWI arrests were up.
Burglary remained stagnant on campus with 20 of the 24 incidents occurring in the residence halls.
Town residential burglary decreased 10 percent but business burglary increased 82 percent due to a number of break-ins of an unusually sophisticated nature, Post said.
Post said Boone Police hope an arrest made last month will impact this number. Catching the few responsible for outlying crimes usually brings numbers back down to normal.
“For example, armed robberies went from two in 2006 to four in 2007,” Post said. “One little group
committed three of those, and [once arrested, it] ended those. We hadn’t had an armed robbery in
months.”
Campus motor vehicle theft decreased 88 percent, although motor vehicle breaking and entering
increased 50 percent for the town.
Boone police said the majority of vehicles broken into were unsecured and had valuables in plain view.
University and Boone police urge students to be cautious regardless of what numbers may report.
“A lot of times, unfortunately, it takes becoming a victim to change,” Doerr said. “That’s my job—to say we do like our community, we do think it’s safe, but let’s use some common sense and not make it easier for someone to become a criminal when they might not have been if your laptop hadn’t been sitting in your unlocked car in the Wal-Mart parking lot.”
Senior child development major Jayme B. Fox said it seems as if crime has increased since her
freshman year.
“Overall, campus feels safe but I still wouldn’t walk across campus on my own [at night],” she said. “I
usually get friends or my boyfriend to walk with me.”
Aggravated assault was relatively stagnant on campus and decreased 38 percent for the town. Town
misdemeanor assault decreased 20 percent.
Weapons violations for campus were down 70 percent and drug violations saw a 6 percent decrease.
The overall stagnation or decrease in violent crime is part of a national trend. According to FBI crime reports, the violent crime rate in the United States fell by 23 percent in 2007.
Doerr said the type of community Appalachian provides is conducive to this particular trend.
“An environment where people are comfortable with each other, respectful to each other [is important],”
Doerr said. “[Where] the police respect the community and the community respects the police. That’s
not to say a serious incident couldn’t occur… There are lone wolves out there no one can really
predict.”
Both university and town police said they are in the process of trying to get one or two additional
officers. Campus vandalism increased 47 percent in 2007 and a number of graffiti incidents have
already occurred in 2008.
“We’d really like another person or two to address these crimes on a specific basis,” Post said.
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