A near tripling of liquor law violations on campus was shown in Belmont’s release of the 2013 Annual Security Report.
However, that number, released today as part of Belmont’s compliance with both federal and state laws, is skewed due to a recent change in liquor law violation reporting standards, as stated in the report.
The U.S. Department of Education now requires universities to report all referrals for disciplinary action for alleged liquor law violations. Previously the only cases required to be reported were the ones found responsible for violating liquor laws.
According to a statement from the university in the Annual Security Report, “Belmont responds assertively to alcohol use on campus. The determination of whether a person has violated liquor laws does not take place until after the referral for disciplinary action is made and the reporting requirement is triggered. Thus the data for 2012 reflect a significant increase in the number of matters referred for discipline.”
Larceny and theft offenses saw the biggest change from year-to-year. In 2011 the total theft charges on campus jumped from 29 in 2010 to 60. This year the number dropped to 43.
The biggest jump in offenses outside of the liquor law violations was seen in the destruction/damage/vandalism category, which increased from just one offense in 2011 to 13 in 2012.
Other areas saw small increases, including drugs, assault, trespassing, weapon law violations and motor vehicle theft.
Drug and narcotic violations total offenses for 2012 were 40. This is an increase of three offenses from the previous year. In 2010, there were only 14 charges.
The university also saw minor increases from 2011 to 2012 in total assault offenses, which went up to seven from three, and a slight jump from three trespassing offenses in 2011 to five in 2012.
Both weapon law violations and motor vehicle theft saw zero offenses in 2011. However, in 2010 weapon law violations had one offense and there were two motor vehicle theft charges that same year.
Counterfeiting/forgery saw its first offense in three years with the two charges for the category in 2012.
The report also showed that over the past three years, the university has had no cases related to homicide, kidnapping, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses, arson, extortion, fraud offenses, embezzlement, stolen property offenses, bribery, pornography, gambling or prostitution.