The ASU and Tempe police departments are moving forward with their joint Spring Crimes Operation after making 86 alcohol arrests near the Tempe campus during the last two weeks of April.
The 86 arrests were made on April 16, 23 and 24 on suspicion of alcohol violations by people under age 21.
Crimes like robbery, assault, sexual assault and driving under the influence typically increase during the spring as a result of drinking, said Sgt. Steve Carbajal, a spokesman for the Tempe Police Department.
“All of these crimes are typically associated with alcohol consumption,” he said. The police departments compiled a list of the top 10 apartment complexes for alcohol and public order crimes.
Ranked by most calls for service, the apartment complexes include Arbour Park Apartments, The Vue, Sierra Vista Apartments II, Coronado Apartments, Quadrangles Apartments, Desert Palm Village, Campus Pointe Apartments, Rancho Murietta Apartments, both Gateway at Tempe locations and Tempe Terrace Apartments, according to a statement released by the Tempe Police Department.
Carbajal said the goal of the operation is to reduce the occurrence of those crimes.
Out of the top 10 apartment complexes, police only saw violations committed in four complexes during the Spring Crimes Operation enforcement, he said — The Vue on Apache, both Gateway complexes and Vista del Sol.
“We will continue to do those types of enforcement and it will have a positive effect on those crimes,” Carbajal said.
The bulk of the arrests were of people under 21 years old but over 18, he said.
Jay Spradling, assistant chief at the ASU Police Department, said this operation is one of the many ASU and Tempe Police work together on.
“It is in both of our interests to work together,” he said. “We will probably repeat it at some time.”
Since ASU and Tempe are in the same jurisdiction, the departments work together in a continuing effort to keep downtown Tempe safe, Spradling said.
Alex Cannon, a business communications junior, turned 21 in March but received a minor in consumption ticket in February 2009 when she was 19.
Cannon was at a friend’s birthday party when the police showed up around 1 a.m. and began handing out tickets, she said.
“I hid for a while in my friend’s room but then the cops found me,” she said. “They used a Breathalyzer on us, wrote us tickets and then let us leave.”
Cannon said she feels safer knowing that police are cracking down on alcohol offenders, which could be potential drunk drivers.
“If they’re handing out more tickets, there will be less drunk drivers out there,” she said.
Reach the reporter at mmbarke1@asu.edu
