Public Safety: drinking citations down

The University Department of Public Safety continues to view student drinking as the campus’ primary problem, despite recent statistics.

There were 41 alcohol-related citations given during 2004, compared to 66 citations given during 2003.

Assistant Director of Public Safety Richard Goodson said he saw no increase in underage drinking arrests made in 2004. Goodson attributed this to strict enforcement of underage drinking laws in 2003.

“It’s hard to put your finger on what happens with crime statistics sometimes,” said Goodson. “Some of it frankly does have to do with how aggressively we enforce it as far as how much we see in the way of citations. We had a big enforcement year in 2003, and it may be logical to follow that word gets out, and now, people are a little more discreet with their underage drinking.”

According to Public Safety Director Ken Vance, though no more prevalent, underage drinking remains a problem with “dire consequences.”

“The fine for underage drinking in Milledgeville is $407,” said Vance. “That’s a pile of money and ought to be a deterrent. Yet university police alone arrest over 60 students a year for this offense. This does not include arrests the Milledgeville Police Department makes.”

Case logs obtained from the Department of Public Safety showed a significant portion of underage drinking and possession of alcohol citations given in 2002-2004 at Napier Residence Hall.

Vance said there is no designated location where arrests are more prevalent downtown.

“Management [downtown] does its best to control it, but a few of their employees don’t always get it right,” said Vance. “There are fake IDs [and students] getting people of legal age to purchase a drink. It’s a game played by students.”

Erin Irons, manager of Buffington’s in downtown Milledgeville, said most downtown businesses combat underage drinking professionally.

“People here recognize fake IDs,” said Irons. “It’s only a problem if you allow it to be one. We take them [from students], and if they want them back, they have to go to the police.”

According to Public Safety documents, students are rarely involved in citations given downtown for driving under the influence.

Last year, only two Driving Under the Influence charges were issued to underage students, while three were issued citations for having an open container.

Goodson said pedestrians are only issued drinking citations under extreme circumstances.

“We’ve made one [pedestrian] arrest since I’ve been here,” said Goodson. “There’s not a law against being inebriated unless you’re being loud and boisterous, or causing interference with the public or if you’re underage, of course. Without bringing attention to yourself, we’re probably not going to stop and ID you.”

According to Vance, drinking violations continue to be a trend primarily among freshmen students.

“Freshmen are the biggest offenders,” said Vance. It seems the closer a student gets to the legal drinking age, the less likely he or she is to abuse alcohol.”

Goodson agreed, and said freshmen rarely know what kind of enforcement to expect.

“They get tagged pretty quickly,” said Goodson. “Sometimes one may have two or three drinking violations, underage possession or DUIs in the same semester. If you take a look at our statistics, you’ll see we disproportionately arrest more freshmen than upperclassmen.”

Public Safety is currently working with the city of Milledgeville to further enforce drinking laws, especially on Thursday nights.

“We meet with [the Milledgeville Police Department] and discuss the issues,” said Goodson. “We talk with the City Council on what we can do to pass local legislation to see if bar owners will cooperate to discourage things like ‘Drink n’ Drown’–things that encourage excessive drinking.”

Georgia College & State University now has an Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force, which recently received a $15,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Public Safety.

“We are now able to train students to become peer educators at residence halls, freshman seminar classes and student-to-student programs,” said Task Force Chairperson Barbara Funke. “We do various events. For example, in April there will be a National Alcohol Screening Day, so we hope to be out on campus with our tables.”

Funke said educating students on the potential risks of alcohol abuse is something she feels passionately about.

“[Alcohol abuse] is one of the greatest threats to student well-being,” said Funke. “It impacts their ability to stay in school and their physical and emotional health, so it’s a critical issue that I feel strongly about.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 1 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry