From 75 to 33 to 54, the District Attorney clarifies SDSU drug-bust numbers
The San Diego District Attorney just sent out a clarification on how many arrests they made in their big drug bust on Tuesday morning, called “Operation Sudden Fall.” The D.A.’s press release originally said they’d made 96 arrests, including 75 students. An SDSU spokesman later told Voiceofsandiego.org that many of the 75 students were arrested as part of normal campus patrol operations. The D.A.’s new figures have a separate section for students arrested by SDSU police officers “on patrol.”
“That means arrests made by SDSU police while on patrol,” said D.A. spokesperson Steve Walker in an e-mail to CItyBeat. “For example, traffic stops or other arrests made by officers during their patrol shifts.”
An SDSU spokesman told Voice these arrests would have been made with or without “Sudden Fall,” but the D.A. release said they included them in the total number “because as a direct result of ‘Operation Sudden Fall,’ a zero tolerance policy regarding narcotics was enforced by SDSU Police during patrols.”
The numbers sent out today include additional arrests made yesterday, but here they are:
- Total arrests: 125
- SDSU students arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration: 54
- Non-students arrested by DEA: 30
- Students arrested by SDSU police on patrol: 41
- Total number of arrests (students and non-students) that would have been announced on Tuesday if patrol arrests weren’t included: 55
- Number of student arrests that would have been announced Tuesday if patrol arrests weren’t included: 34
The D.A.’s statement also mentioned that 13 students (of the 54) cooperated to avoid prosecution.
