This post was written by Hatchet reporter Jack Thomson.

The number of alcohol violations recorded this Halloween weekend was the highest in seven years, increasing only by one from last year’s numbers.

This past weekend, 22 cases of alcohol violations were reported to the University Police Department. Similar numbers were reported last year with a total of 21 incidents. Two years ago, the number of violations during the holiday weekend marked the fifth year of declines.

University spokeswoman Maralee Csellar said in an email that UPD held two events to communicate with students about safety during Halloween weekend. The department hosted a “Coffee with a Cop” event Thursday in Thurston Hall, where UPD Chief RaShall Brackney and officers “talked with students and offered safety tips and reminders about Halloween weekend,” Csellar said.

On the same day, UPD also held a campus safety cookout on the Mount Vernon Campus to discuss safety leading up to the Halloween weekend, Csellar said.

Alexis Janda, the associate director of GW’s Health Promotion and Prevention Services, said the office offers online and in-person resources to inform students about things like alcohol, nutrition and sexual health.

She said her organization “works to educate students about a wide variety of substances so that they may make informed and responsible decisions for their health and wellbeing.”

The number of student disciplinary referrals for alcohol and drug violations dropped by about half last year, according to the annual security report.