Indiana State Excise Police resumed their rounds this past weekend, leaving some students running to avoid arrest.
“What we would like to see cut down is the number of foot pursuits we had,” Brandon Thomas, an excise officer, said.
Excise’s goal for move-in weekend was to aid University Police Department with the influx of students and activities that followed.
“It helps the community by providing for more enforcement of the law and having a greater police presence and response in the community,” said Gene Burton, director of public safety at Ball State.
Forty-six people were arrested on 59 charges and three were brought to jail Thursday through Saturday, according to a press release by excise.
The numbers are slightly higher than they were during Friday and Saturday of last year’s move-in weekend. In August 2012, Thomas said officers arrested 34 people on 57 charges but did not jail anyone. This year on Friday and Saturday, 42 people were arrested.
Still, racking up arrests is not the goal of the Intensified College Enforcement program, Thomas said.
“We don’t measure success by our arrests,” he said. “Our success is seeing less arrests. We want to keep Ball State students safe.”
One way police said they try to keep people safe is by stopping offenders around campus, some of who are not Ball State students.
“Not all of the people arrested were Ball State students,” Thomas said. “Ball State is centrally located and some people go over just to cause trouble.”
Austin Bratton, 27, of Muncie was arrested Saturday for resisting arrest and yelling obscenities toward officers after being denied entrance, because of his level of intoxication, into D-Luxe Bar and Lounge.
Other charges issued over the weekend included battery on a police officer, possession of fake IDs, false statement of age and consumption of an alcoholic beverage by a minor.
There will be no changes to the excise program this year, and the Cops in Shops initiative, which places excise behind the counter of liquor stores and bars, will continue this year. No shifts were assigned over move-in week.
Thomas said the efforts help to almost double the amount of UPD officers on patrol.
“Our focus is to keep campus safe,” he said. “My daughter goes to Ball State, and I have no problem at all with her being there because I think it’s a good campus and a good school, so it’s kind of a personal thing for me, too.”
