CJ McCurty, who has been a detective with the Department of Public Safety since 1997, has never dealt with a drunk driving incident on campus.

From August 2015 to March 2016, there were 13 vehicle stops by Syracuse University DPS officers that required reports, and only one that involved suspicion of alcohol, McCurty said. That’s for a university with an enrollment of 21,789.

Unlike some schools, SU doesn’t have a traffic division, so it doesn’t have officers looking for driving violations that might lead to DWI arrests, McCurty said.

“Our officers patrol in certain areas with other responsibilities and might come across people who go through a stop sign and red light and pull them over,” he said.

Other schools in upstate New York have designated traffic divisions, such as SU’s peer institution Cornell University. Cornell performs sobriety checks on “randomly selected dates, at randomly selected times and places,” according to the university’s website.

In 2014, there were 54 DWI arrests by the Cornell Police Department, according to its Clery Act report.

Another factor in SU’s low drunk driving numbers is the proximity of the school’s nightlife to its housing. Teresa James, a sophomore advertising major with a car on campus, said she never felt the need to drive home after a party or a night out on Marshall Street.

“Everything on Syracuse University’s campus is walkable,” James said. “I think at other schools, people have to drive to the bars on the weekends, but for us there are some on Marshall Street within walking distance along with house parties on Euclid (Avenue) and frat houses on either frat row.”

Although DPS does not typically see students driving drunk on campus, that doesn’t mean it does not happen.

“I think it’s just that we don’t come in contact with them, but somehow these people are getting home and getting around us,” McCurty said. “I think it’s there.”

Sgt. James Milana, a supervisor with Syracuse Police Department’s patrol division, said he has come across students driving under the influence in the past.

The city deals with students driving under the influence exactly how it would with anyone else.

“Once the person is pulled over, the arrest is processed through the local district attorney and then the school gets involved,” Milana said on arresting students.

Pam Peter, director of SU’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, said it is common for law enforcement agencies to tell the school if students get into trouble, even if it’s out in Syracuse, at home during the summer or elsewhere. The school then charges the student with a code of conduct violation, in addition to whatever criminal charges law enforcement might levy.

“It’s important for students to realize they represent SU and are accountable to the code of student conduct regardless of where they might be,” McCurty said.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick is responsible for “prosecuting all criminal offenses in Onondaga County committed by a person over 16,” said Barry Weiss, Onondaga County’s Stop DWI coordinator.

Beyond the Syracuse campus, DWI arrests in the city hit a 10-year low in 2015 with 1,068 arrests, according to Onondaga County crime statistics. In the last decade, 2009 had the most arrests at 1,926.

But the 35 percent decline does not mean fewer people are getting behind the wheel drunk, Weiss said.

“The rates go up and down based on how the police determine the enforcement. There will always be people drinking and driving,” Weiss said.

—Contributing writer Mikey Light contributed reporting to this article.

Editor’s Note: Over the past month, The Daily Orange has collaborated with the Department of Newspaper and Online Journalism at Syracuse University on a series of stories relating to alcohol culture on the SU campus. Multiple stories will appear in The D.O. in the coming days.

Published on April 8, 2016 at 7:54 pm