While scattered minor offenses make up the majority of crime in Bowling Green, the downtown nightlife takes title as the single greatest contributor.

According to averages taken from four years of the Bowling Green Police Division’s annual arrest reports, the majority of offenses handled fall under the category of “all other offenses.”

This category, according to Lt. Tony Hetrick of the BGPD, encompasses minor crimes such as vandalism, juvenile truancy, and other offenses similar to, but not coded as, disorderly conduct.

Second to “all other crimes” is crimes falling under the category “liquor laws,” which encompasses the majority of crimes concerning alcohol, with exception to those involving the operation of a vehicle.

“[Bowling Green] has a high population of people between the ages of 18 and 25,” Hetrick said. “We all know the college culture involves alcohol to a large degree and we enforce those liquor laws because of the problems they cause in the community.”

Hetrick said there are many policies Bowling Green has in place to address the alcohol, including the parental notification policy for all offenders under the age of 21 as well as various committees such as the Drug, Alcohol and Sexual Offenses Coalition at the University.

“It’s perceived as a huge problem and it really is,” Hetrick said. “So it’s attacked from all different angles, from all different levels of the community.”