Pubdate: Sun,  1 Dec 2002
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Jenna Russell

UMASS-AMHERST TARGETS CAMPUS DRUG USE WITH POLICE CRACKDOWN

After a string of armed robberies linked to students' alleged drug dealing, 
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst last week announced a crackdown 
that includes 10 new police cadets, a satellite police station, and a 
drug-sniffing dog.

In the past two semesters, the state's flagship campus has been shaken by 
six armed robberies of students in their dorm rooms. Two weeks ago, police 
searching for a stolen computer in a Kennedy Hall dorm room netted 
marijuana and $24,000 in cash - the largest cash seizure on campus in 
decades. Two roommates, from Southborough and Singapore, were arrested. 
"Students have been clear that you can go to any floor of any residence 
hall and find drugs if you want to," said UMass Police Chief Barbara O'Connor.

Her department has responded aggressively this semester, arresting seven 
students on charges of dealing narcotics.

Complaints about lack of security are rife, with students charging that 
UMass has too few police officers to keep the 1,400-acre campus safe. 
Budget cuts last spring forced the school to phase out a 14-member security 
force that backed up police, just as a succession of sexual assaults was 
being reported.

But police point to alleged drug use by students as a leading factor in 
recent crimes. In the latest armed robbery, in Coolidge Hall in September, 
a 19-year-old student from Connecticut said two men with a handgun ordered 
him to hand over his valuables. The victim himself was later charged with 
drug possession and intent to distribute narcotics.

Another student who was robbed in his dorm room in May told police he 
opened his door to two men who said they wanted to buy marijuana. Once 
inside, they showed a handgun, took the drugs, and fled.

Cash, marijuana, and prescription medication were taken in several other 
robberies.

In a survey last year, about half of UMass students said they had used 
marijuana in the past year, and 35 percent had used it in the past month, 
said Sally Linowski, interim director of health education and outreach. 
Students report that marijuana use has increased as new technology for 
detecting fake identification has made alcohol harder to buy illegally, 
Linowski said in a recent interview. She said students seem to use 
marijuana more often, smoking it in the morning and maintaining a high all day.

But she said most students don't connect campus safety and their own drug 
use. "I always say, 'You buy it from a dealer,' and they say, 'No, a 
friend.' I tell them, when you buy illegal drugs, you're bringing criminal 
activity into your home, and that's a problem."

A new committee on campus safety, appointed by UMass Chancellor John 
Lombardi, began meeting last month. Its members recommended the police 
expansion, which will cost the cash-strapped school between $100,000 and 
$150,000.

Police are looking for space in a university building to add a satellite 
police station in the most densely populated residential area. The 
university has already filled three vacancies on the force, and the 
department will swear in 10 area college students studying law enforcement.

The school also bought a police dog, now in training and expected on campus 
in February. O'Connor said police do not plan random room searches, but the 
dog will be used to sniff out drugs where there is cause for suspicion.

With more money, police say, the campus could be more secure. A 
computerized security system with hand-held alarms carried by students 
would cost $8 million to $15 million - an all-but-impossible outlay in a 
year when budget cuts have seen the faculty shrink by more than 10 percent.

But Dan Loring, the father of a freshman and a member of the new safety 
committee, thinks parents would be willing to help fund the high-tech 
system by paying extra fees.

Loring, who said he was concerned enough about his daughter's safety this 
fall to consider pulling her out of school, also plans to suggest a more 
drastic measure: Any student caught with drugs should be expelled. "That 
would send shock waves," he said.
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