The number of violations involving controlled substances increased significantly in 1999 from the previous year, according to the College's just-released and federally-mandated Annual Security Report.
In 1999, 239 on-campus liquor law violations were reported by the Department of Safety and Security. During the same time frame, Safety and Security reported 31 liquor law violations in non-campus locales, 42 on public property and 89 in residential facilities.
During the previous year, there were 47 fewer on-campus liquor law violations, eight fewer non-campus violations, 17 fewer public property violations and 13 more violations in residential facilities.
There was a similar across-the-board increase in drug violations -- though on a smaller scale. The number of on-campus drug-related violations reported by Safety and Security leapt from 13 to 25 and those occurring in residential facilities rose from nine to 20.
The figures reported by the Hanover Police Department also jumped markedly since last year. There were 29 on-campus alcohol violations from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1998, according to the figures reported by the police department, and 44 during 1999.
Despite these seemingly large jumps in violations, Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaconne said he saw no upward trends.
"We haven't seen either a significant increase or decrease," he said. "It's constant. There's really nothing changing."
He said there have not been any departmental changes in policy or procedure that could have led to the increase that the report's statistics made visible.
Neither officials from the Dean of the College's office nor the Department of Safety and Security were available for comment.
Other areas covered by the Security Report are aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and sexual offenses, among others.
For these categories, figures are remarkably low, never exceeding three reported incidents.
This marked low level of reported incidents reflects both the relative safety of Hanover as well as the criteria used for reporting.
Last year, the nationally-mandated criteria for security reports -- established by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act -- changed slightly, leading to new reporting procedures.
At the time, College Proctor Robert McEwen told The Dartmouth that federally mandated definitions of words like "robbery" and "aggravated assault" may differ from the commonly-held Dartmouth definitions. McEwen said both aggravated assault and robbery involve weapons such as firearms or knives.
Last year, for the first time, "the requirement has expanded beyond incidents on campus to properties that run contiguous" to campus property, according to McEwen. "It also includes residence halls this year."
Another distorting factor of the report is the fact that occurrences of sexual abuse that are reported to Health Services are not included in the Security Report.
Another College report, put out by Susan Marine, who coordinates the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program on campus, will be released later this term, and will detail the reports to her office.
Marine told The Dartmouth last year that the College does not want to hide the information about sexual assaults from the community, but that her figures are not applicable to the Security Report, whose statistics are calculated using governmental regulations.
"The College isn't trying to hide anything," Marine said at the time. "The College wants everyone to know what gets reported here."
The College's Security Report this year also included general information about where students can receive help should they need it, how many patrol officers monitor the campus and where blue light safety phones are located.
