Underage drinking and theft from autos are problems plaguing campus police forces throughout Wisconsin campuses.

On Dec. 2 the Tribune reported on a study that found that more than half of UW students surveyed drink moderately, if at all. However, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the biggest crime problem is still the excessive use of alcohol by minors, said Capt. Brian Bridges, spokesperson for the force.

Students who are involved with excessive drinking tend to become involved with fights and can more easily become victims, Bridges said. Some students receive medical attention for alcohol poisoning.

The student population of over 41,000 relies on its campus police force of 120 for safety and prevention. Just under half of the force are sworn police officers, Bridges said. Madison’s campus police will handle about 15,000 cases by the end of the calendar year.

Reported crime is down almost 50 percent on the Madison campus, according to Bridges.

The Madison campus police are active in many ways to prevent more alcohol-related violations.

“We do a lot of prevention programs such as liaison officers speaking to students about theft prevention,” Bridges said. “We also send out mass e-mails and posters.”

Excessive alcohol use is also a problem for the 8,760 students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, according to Chief of Police Scott Rhode.

Alcohol violations drastically outnumber any other type of infraction on the La Crosse campus, with 334 cited violations in the 2002 calendar year.

“I think without any question that alcohol is the biggest problem on this campus,” Rhode said. “Alcohol is involved with every assault-type behavior such as fights as well as noise violations.”

The majority of the calls received by second- and third-shift officers are alcohol-related, according to Rhode.

The university currently employs eight full-time officers and four part-time officers, three officers short of the ideal staff, because of budget cuts, according to Rhode.

Unlike Madison police, the La Crosse role in prevention is limited for the most part.

“Our role in prevention is small because we have a full-time substance abuse individual,” Rhode said. “Our role is primarily enforcement. We view prevention as a campus-wide effort.”

According to Rhode, the drinking habits are not formed in college, but are instead brought to campus from home.

“Most students we deal with come to campus with well-established drinking habits and attitude, whether from parents or from communities where the law isn’t enforced,” Rhode said.

In contrast to the Madison and La Crosse campuses, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, as well as Marquette, are both suffering from a different criminal issue.

Marquette has 66 officers on its force, of which 36 are armed and another 28 are patrol officers who respond to reports, according to Capt. Russ Shaw, associate director of the Department of Public Safety.

Thefts from autos are the most common crimes on campus and also the ones impacting the most students, he said.

“It costs the students money both from loss of property and repairs to their vehicles,” Shaw said.

Marquette, like many other universities’ police forces, is active in prevention programs, by providing safety tips to students as well as publishing the Awareness newsletter, a monthly publication.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, with an enrollment of 5,400 students, shares the same crime woes as Marquette.

Vehicle break-ins are the biggest problem, with the average being about 20 to 35 per year. The impact is very high on the student population, according to Police Chief Randy Christopherson.

Student vehicles are more desired targets to criminals because only college students have 500 CDs in their cars, he said.

The Green Bay campus police force is comprised of five armed police officers and five unarmed security officers as well as six part-time officers, according to Christopherson.