An over-occupancy of students in the south Campustown area is the root of an increased presence of local police officers, according to ISU Police.

Criminal charges filed by ISU Police were seven times higher in south Campustown than in the residence halls from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, according to data from ISU Police.

The complaints in south Campustown are abundant, said Spencer Ehlers, investigator with ISU Police.

Complaints such as noise, assault, alcohol, sexual assault, urination, trash and speeding draw ISU Police to the area. Parties draw attention to themselves and they attract police, he said.

“The thought is that by giving someone a PAULA (possession of alcohol under the legal age) at 8 p.m., hopefully there won’t be a sexual assault at 2 a.m.,” Ehlers said.

There is a large number of rental properties in the south campus area and many of those properties are overcrowded, said Fern Kupfer, associate professor of English and south campus resident.

Kupfer and those in her neighborhood have formed the South Campus Area Neighborhood, or SCAN. The group acts as a watchdog group to make sure landlords, the city and renters are adhering to city zoning laws.

The concern of SCAN is that the “affordable” housing in the area is being appropriated by landlords and developers, then rented to students and there has been violations of the cities zoning standards.

There are areas of high- and low-density housing in Ames. A low density home requires there be no more than three unrelated people occupying the home, according to the Ames City Housing Code.

Along with the problems of zoning and high volumes of renters is alcohol. With those problems combined, the area attracts police who are asked to regulate.

“The police are doing a wonderful job,” Kupfer said.

Ames and Iowa State are left with a job that requires them to build a rapport with students but also enforce safety, Stewart said.

Some greek students believe they are being monitored too closely by ISU Police and Ames Police Department when they drink on weekends.

“We know [the police] are trying to make the community happy and we understand they have a job to do, but sometimes we feel unfairly targeted because of our greek affiliation,” said Andy Harrison, senior in marketing. Harrison is a fraternity member, but asked his house affiliation not be disclosed.

Jerry Stewart, director of ISU Police, said it isn’t the greeks who cause the majority of problems.

“Greeks are unfairly blamed for parties in south Campustown,” Stewart said. “It’s the non-greek rental properties that have a majority of parties.”

“We support the greek system and don’t want them to close,” Kupfer said.

When a house becomes a dry house, the number of members decrease as the students seek a rental property where they can drink, Kupfer said.

When deciding where to place officers, ISU Police look at past areas of problems, Stewart said.

Ames police officers don’t normally patrol the campus unless requested to by ISU Police. The residence halls are on ISU property and the greek houses are on city property, said Jim Robinson, public information officer for Ames police.

“We don’t want to ruin anyone’s good time. We want them to have a good time safely,” he said.

Officials from the law enforcement agencies said they use grant money to help them curb the alcohol and traffic violations in Ames and ensure the safety of students and Ames residents.

The Ames police receive grants periodically, Robinson said. For example, they might receive a liquor violation grant or a traffic violation grant.

A liquor violation grant allows the station more money to aggressively stop public intoxications, underage possessions and operating while intoxicated violations.

The traffic violation grant provides funding, for example, to pull people over who aren’t wearing seat belts.

The grants allow police to have more officers on staff and to pay the overtime of officers needed, Robinson said.

ISU Police also receive an alcohol enforcement grant and a traffic safety grant, Lt. Doug Clabaugh said. Not all the grant money is used on enforcement, Stewart said.

The majority of the money is used for education and prevention campaigns.

ISU Police are state police, meaning their jurisdiction extends beyond campus, Clabaugh said. They do try to maintain their “flow,” around campus and out to the dorms, Stewart said.

Walk-a-longs in the residence halls are part of their job. The residence halls have become better at policing themselves, Stewart said.