Home › Football
CU study links football, crime
Research shows spike in arrests on game day
College football games are linked to aggressive behavior, according to University of Colorado researchers who combed through crime reports and found patterns of game-day aggression in host cities.
The study -- completed by Daniel I. Rees, an associate professor of economics at CU's Denver campus and Kevin T. Schnepel, a graduate student in the school's economic program -- analyzed daily police records from 26 agencies over a span of six football seasons.
STORY TOOLS
More Football
- College bowl slate could be maxed out
- Behrens ready for return home
- CU hopes to add counselor to staff
Share and Enjoy [?]
The cases reviewed were from 2000 to 2005, and in cities where there are Division Icollege football teams.
The study did not include Boulder, the home of the CU Buffs, or any university towns in Colorado. The authors found that fights -- and other offenses, such as vandalism -- happened more frequently on game days.
"Results suggest that the host community, on average, experiences a 9 percent increase in assaults on game days," Rees said. "In addition, there is evidence that vandalism, arrests for disorderly conduct and alcohol-related arrests increase on game days, but there is no support for the hypothesis that away games are related to offenses."
The most significant uptick in crime seem to occur after an upset, or when an unranked or lower-ranked team beats a higher-ranked team.
The study's estimates suggest that assaults increase by 112 percent with an upset loss at home and by 36 percent with an upset victory. For the typical police agency, this would translate into an additional 6.7 reports of assault in the case of an upset loss on a Saturday and an additional 2.2 reports of assault in the case of an upset win.
The researchers acknowledge that home games attract a temporary, but substantial, influx of fans coming into the host city. But results with regard to upsets suggest that fans are reacting to the outcome of games, according to the study.
CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said that the bulk of his department's arrests come during the game, and many are alcohol-related. On average, the department ejected 35 fans from Folsom Field during each home game last season and made one arrest.
Fans tend to leave the campus following the game, he said.
"So, we don't see a big bump after football games," Wiesley said.
But, he said, CU police officers rarely eject or arrest fans at basketball games. The crowds are significantly smaller, and there is not as much pre-game partying and tailgating, he said.
"Fans have a different mentality as far as how they approach the game," Wiesley said.
Sarah Huntley, spokeswoman for the Boulder Police Department, said the department steps up enforcement in the University Heights neighborhood on game days. The department receives "quality of life" complaints from residents of the neighborhood, which is east of Folsom Field, because of the number of fans parking on the streets and the noise, she said.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.
Posted by scotth92 on January 23, 2008 at 5:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
While it isn't difficult to surmise that this would be true, the study is flawed in one important aspect:
The typical college town has a substantial "population" bump when 50,000-100,000 people fill the stadium on game days. Without looking, I would suspect this population bump is much greater than the 12% increase in aggressive behavior found.
Therefore, one could conclude that on a per capita basis, aggressive behavoir actually decreases on game day.
Posted by RalphieWyoWyo on January 23, 2008 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They had to do a study to conclude this? This is true for any Bronco game or any sporting event really. Combine alcohol with stupid people and all sorts of things happen...
Posted by cumba06 on January 23, 2008 at 8:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I would also conclude that big rock concerts create more assaults. Also, I believe assaults and tickets go up when a political convention comes to town as well.
Posted by buffalo_flyer on January 23, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Its pathetic that our professors are wasting tuition dollars spreading their hate for football
Posted by archalon on January 23, 2008 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is dumb - in any college town, what is the % of residents between 18-30 years old ? This age range has the highest rate of criminal offenders and victims. Colleges have football teams. College kids drink liquor. People under 30 are less responsible than older adults.
And it took some bored PhD to figure that out ? Sounds more like a sociology 101 paper to me.
What a waste of time
Posted by RalphieWyoWyo on January 23, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It makes as much sense as if they were to study the link between snow storms and the number of traffic accidents increasing.
The title of the article should have read:
CU study links professors oversights in common sense and wasted tax payer money.
Posted by MarquetteBuff on January 23, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a bunch of politically correct, football hating nonesense. Like other posters have said, the increase in crime has to do with a very large group of mostly young people gathering in a celebratory atmosphere. It has nothing to do with football; it could be anything, a concert, convention, rally, etc.
Posted by BuffMan6236 on January 23, 2008 at 11:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
scotth92 is absolutely correct. This study needs to be adjusted to the increase in population in the area. Increase the population of Austin by 100,000 or Madison by 80,000 or Berkeley by 50,000 or Beaverton by 50,000 and nominal assaults will increase.
I hope this study is peer reviewed, it will be torn apart for not adjusting for the population increase.
Although CU wasn't included in the study, a good example was the OU game last year. Okies were so worked up after the game that those hillbillies were slapping their wives and cousins right and left. Sure they were one and the same people, but the point is there were 55,000 people at the game, many of whom don't live in Boulder.
GO BUFFS!
Posted by Buffaloed on January 24, 2008 at 6:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm volunteering myself for a personal case study Brittany. I've never experienced game day aggression. Perhaps you can help me out a little. After reading your mindless nonsense I think I'm beginning to feel violent.
Posted by JBuff on January 24, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Duhhh....football smash.
Posted by sdbuffs00 on January 24, 2008 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
These guys should study how violent the ultra-liberal Eurotrash become during soccer season.
These sorts of studies are rediculous. Next time CU prof's complain about the discrepancy in pay between Engineering/Business and Liberal Arts/Social Sciences, it's b/c one side is paid to be innovative, while the other is paid to inform us that "5-year-olds have temper tantrums" or "drunk college kids tend to get rowdy".
Posted by impag10 on January 24, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
worthless....spend the money wasted on dal ward, if there was any. god I hope not
Posted by extrapoint on January 25, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
where is rs wright on this?
(Requires free registration.)
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.