University of California - Berkeley - Campus Strictness

College Prowler Take

Students have pretty good things to say about campus police and security, citing few incidents of unreasonableness or unjust treatment. But police are police, and blatant misconduct will land you in academic and legal trouble. While living in the dorms, you’ll most likely run into more trouble with your resident advisor than any other campus officer, so it’s important to stay on good terms with him or her. Stealing and cheating are the two most frequent on-campus infringements and are dealt with primarily by campus security, while drug use, theft, and assault are the biggest crimes in the city of Berkeley and are handled by the police. On campus, bike and laptop theft are the most common, and once it’s gone, you’re probably not going to ever see it again.

Berkeley is known for having somewhat lenient law enforcement when it comes to marijuana use, underage drinking, and drinking in public, but there are always the rare cases where police have to crack down, and a first-time offender can get in severe trouble. There are more prominent risks for students—muggings, street violence, etc.—and police don’t spend as much time on the smaller crimes that college students are prone to committing. Students are pretty happy with campus police because most officers understand that they’re dealing with college students and leave room for them to make some mistakes.

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Students Speak Out

Anonymous says:

Despite what you hear about... Despite what you hear about Berkeley, campus policies concerning drugs and alcohol are as strict as at any other college. There is zero tolerance for underage and excessive drinking, and other drugs such as marijuana are banned. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Anonymous says:

They are only strict once you get... They are only strict once you get caught, and it is not all that difficult to avoid getting caught, as long as you aren’t stupid about what you are doing. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Anonymous says:

In one of my friends’ math... In one of my friends’ math classes, an entire cheating ring of about 20 people was caught. It really helped my friend with the curve. I think you can get kicked out for a semester if you’re caught cheating, but I’ve never actually heard of anyone getting kicked out. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Anonymous says:

The dorms tend to be strict about... The dorms tend to be strict about drinking, but most fraternity parties don’t get shut down by the cops until 1 a.m. As long as you aren’t too loud, you usually won’t get caught. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Anonymous says:

You can refuse to take a... You can refuse to take a breathalyzer, and they’ll try to intimidate you and say you have to, but you have a legal right to refuse. And you can contest it and then you’ll get off okay. If you get written up at a game, you need to go to an alcohol awareness program at Tang. That’s much better than if you’re written up in the dorms. I once had to write a five-page paper on Animal House. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

Facts

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