Crime after exam week lower than previous years
A police officer puts out one of 14 couch fires between the end of April and June 2014. This year, police have so far extinguished one burning couch.
End of the semester celebrations amongst Central Michigan University students last weekend were tamer than previous years. Parties were quieter and crime was lower than last year, said Officer Jeff Browne of the Mount Pleasant Police Department.
"Everything was down. We didn't nearly have the activity we did in years past," Browne said. "It was considerably better than last year."
Last year, there were multiple couch and dumpster fires toward the end of the semester. Crime was nothing like the year prior, Browne said.
"We only had one couch fire this year," Browne said. "We added extra shifts. There were a couple of open intox (citations) and MIPs and drunk drivers, but that was it. Nothing too serious."
Last year, an emergency ordinance was put in place after multiple couch fires started by students. The ordinance was made law by the City Commission on June 23. The ordinance charged individuals within 300 feet of an open fire with a misdemeanor. The ordinance is couple with outdoor burning regulations which state "no person shall kindle or maintain any bonfire or rubbish fire or permit any such fire to be kindled or maintained within the city limits."
Violating the law is a misdemeanor crime with a $500 fine or 90 days in jail.
Browne said he didn't know what contributed to the lack of crime and mild party scene this year.
"I have no idea what to attribute it to. I wish I knew that," he said. "We did have some issues with students, but nothing like before."
Lt. Cameron Wassman of the Central Michigan University Police Department said there were few arrests on campus last weekend.
"There wasn't much going on really, both this weekend and last. Everybody seemed to be behaving themselves pretty well," Wassman said. "There were a couple of arrests for routine things, nothing I would call significant."
Wassman said a reason for slow activity could be due to students going home before the weekend began.
"At least on campus, the weekend of graduation doesn't have a whole lot of activity," he said. "A lot have people have already gone home for summer."
