City government, police collaborate on safety during the start of school
Welcome Back Weekend injects about 20,000 students into the Mount Pleasant population, essentially doubling the number of people law enforcement swore an oath to protect.
The common perception of Mount Pleasant is a quiet college town, but Jeff Browne, public information officer for the Mount Pleasant Police Department, said every community could potentially be dangerous.
“I would say 99.9 percent of the time we live in a very safe, walk-able community,” Browne said. “In any community that you live in there are unfortunate incidents, whether it be Mayberry or the city of Detroit. I wonder if because (high profile crimes) happen more infrequently we are more sensitive to it (here).”
City Manager Nancy Ridley said if this perception is popular, it is a good image, and generally citizens in the community have told her they feel safe in Mount Pleasant.
“I think we take pride in Mount Pleasant in the fact that we are a safe community, even when our population does increase so much,” Ridley said. “Safety is dependent on all of our community members, including our students, realizing they are part of a larger community and need to help everyone be safe.”
Browne said a majority of crimes involving students are alcohol related, but police are prepared for another busy start to the fall semester.
CMU Police Department Chief Bill Yeagley said statistically alcohol is involved in most types of crimes on campus, be it in the system of the perpetrator or victim.
Michigan state police records show that in 2013, liquor violations accounted for 114 arrests on campus, and 416 in the city of Mount Pleasant. Other popular crimes included obstructing justice and violations of controlled substances.
This is compared to 245 arrests on the campus of Western Michigan University, which is located in Kalamazoo, a generally more active area for crime than Mount Pleasant. Crime statistics for WMU are similar to CMU, a majority of crime is alcohol and assault related.
Browne said students are generally well educated on the rules, and trends have been very good over the last several years.
Ridley was hesitant to comment on the crime trends in Mount Pleasant, as she had not looked at the statistics personally.
Crimes for violating drug and alcohol laws accounted for 54.4 percent of the arrests made in Mount Pleasant and 60.5 percent of the arrests on CMU’s campus.
WMU saw 130 arrests from liquor violations, compared to 147 at CMU.
In 2013, 403 incidents on the campus of Central Michigan University involved law enforcement, down 34.1 percent from the previous year. Arrests were also down by 20 percent from 2012.
Six arrests were made for crimes against persons on campus with only two being aggravated or felonious assaults. There were 23 offenses for crimes against people, however assaults were by far the majority, being responsible for 18 of the offenses.
“There are three parts to crime,” Browne said. “The opportunity for it to happen, the place that it happens and the person that it happens to. If you take the opportunity out of it you can stay safe.”
Yeagley cautioned students to make responsible choices on party weekends. He said each year all five law enforcement agencies comes together to create a plan for enforcement for when students return.
“Does it do (students) well to go to a school that’s known as a party school?” Brown said. “We want (students) to get a great education and go to a school that’s known for having a safe community.”
