With a growing student population in Pullman, reports of crimes have increased significantly on College Hill over the past few years.

Crime reports have increased 18.5 percent on College Hill since 2012 and 10 percent this year, said Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins. Already this year, there have been more than 4,000 calls, though there were only about 3,400 calls in all of 2012.

However, there is some discrepancy as the overall Pullman population has only increased about 4 percent in the last four years, while calls for different crimes have increased exponentially. Dispute calls have increased 61 percent, domestic dispute calls 104 percent, harassment calls 51 percent, auto theft calls 112 percent and vehicle calls 122 percent.

Even though those incidents have increased, Jenkins said drug-related incidents have decreased due to the legalization of marijuana in 2012. He also said malicious mischief calls, which include damage to property, can be attributed to the Greek involvement of sororities and fraternities working with the College Hill Association to clean up neighborhoods on College Hill.

Pullman Fire Chief Mike Heston said calls for the Pullman Fire Department have increased 10 percent on College Hill since last year, including more calls for elderly people. He said this can be attributed to the growing age of older residents.

“Society’s getting older,” he said. “People like to retire in college towns.”

He said they also receive more calls for alcohol-related incidents, with an increase in activity on weekends due to the growing student population in Pullman. About 1,000 more students come to Pullman each year.

Heston also said those incidents often involve people from out of town. He said the majority of Pullman residents take care of the neighborhood, while nonresidents come to party and are more likely to damage and break property.

Overall, he said the increase in calls was “not a healthy thing.”

“We want to have good, clean, safe fun,” he said.

Jenkins, on the other hand, said the increase in calls was a good indicator of students becoming more empowered to report. He said there is good university support in educating students about domestic abuse, harassment and alcohol-related incidents.

Though reports of crimes have increased, crime incidents are at their lowest in nine years, with on-campus crimes decreasing as well. Even so, Jenkins expects to increase staff soon to meet the demand of calls.

Both departments, as well as WSU Police, said they are prepared for the upcoming Halloween weekend, when they expect an even greater increase in calls.