Police make alcohol and drug arrests, roll out new anti-larceny campaign during Welcome Week

Charles Couch
Staff Writer

Many freshmen may have enjoyed Welcome Week, but for several new students arrested by VCU Police for drug and alcohol possession, the week wasn’t so welcoming.

VCU police made 24 drug and alcohol related arrests during Welcome Week, between Aug. 17 and Aug. 25. Ten of the arrests occurred in residence halls.

John Venuti, chief of VCU Police, said this is a 29 percent decrease of such arrests compared to last year’s Welcome Week.

“We have a pretty comprehensive approach to all of the situations involving drugs and alcohol, along with a zero-tolerance policy,” Venuti said, attributing the decline in arrests to educational programs and discussions between students and campus police during orientation and Welcome Week.

While these arrests may have decreased from last year, Linda Hancock, director of VCU’s Wellness Resource Center, said there are still factors that aren’t being addressed.

“Welcome Week is the highest arrest week of the year, followed by finals week … as a preventionist, it should be Welcome Day, not Welcome Week,” Hancock said. The clinician expressed concerns that many of the students move into dorms over the weekend and don’t have their first classes until the following Thursday, leaving them with unfilled time during Welcome Week to engage in activities that could land them in trouble.

“We offer them as much as possible during Welcome Week … but none of (the events) are mandatory,” Hancock said.

Over 2,000 students attended Hancock’s “Love and Liquor” seminars during Welcome Week to discuss issues surrounding drug, alcohol and sexual safety, which still left more than a third of VCU’s freshmen class to their own devices.

The VCU Police department treats Welcome Week differently than the rest of the academic year. In addition to educating students, the department increases its staff on duty for that first week, particularly during the night and into the morning, Chief Venuti said.

“We provide a (heavier) level of presence and visibility on the academic campus just because a lot of new students in the area are milling around,” Venuti said.

VCU Police also launched a new initiative – “See Something Shady, Call the VCU Police Department” – during Welcome Week to combat larceny, one of the university’s biggest issues during the prior year, Venuti said. Police kicked off the campaign with a sunglasses giveaway and a screening of a theft prevention commercial featuring Venuti and men’s basketball Coach Shaka Smart during the SOVO Fair at the Siegel Center.

“We spend the whole year telling students ‘Don’t leave stuff unattended,’ and we were looking for a different way of saying the same thing this year,” Venuti said. Larceny at VCU is down by 7.6 percent over the last academic year, according to the VCU Police Department website.

“For the most part, I would much rather do education and prevention than actually make arrests,” Venuti said.