Somewhere in the midst of a bustling fall semester, my roommate and I find ourselves in quite a bind with the Tempe Police Department. Elected as designated drivers, we took the keys to a friend’s truck and dropped off a handful of drinkers on Mill Avenue. A few hours later, we got the call to return and safely retrieve them, lurching in Saturday night traffic before coming to grips with an unfortunate predicament.
Swarming like a team of bumble bees, a gang of Tempe bicycle cops halt our progress. We were told to step out of the vehicle and sit on the nearest curb. When asked what law we thought we’d violated, my roomie and I spewed nervous babble like school girls before the principal. As it turns out, we’d made a largely undetectable mistake. We neglected to inspect the bed of said friend’s truck before agreeing to drive with it. Little did we know we’d been cruising Tempe with an 18-pack in tow, unopened and immediately claimed by our 21-year old friends who also proved registration to the truck itself. Both points moot.
We had fallen into the hands of the “Party Patrol,” a now infamous police task force whose responsibilities lie entirely in responding to loud parties, underage drinking at tailgates and everything in between. Creating a department specific to ASU partiers gives the City of Tempe’s remaining police squad a chance to tend to more pertinent issues, as it can only be assumed that the bulk of their weekend inquiries involve more drunken scuffles and loud bass then attempted murder or drug busts.
Even after blowing a ceremonious 0.00 on a breathalyzer Roomie and I were handed matching Minor in Possession tickets. What has this experience taught me? Not much. In fact, I’m still irritated that we were punished for safe driving techniques, habits we’d picked up in high school after seeing the devastation of drunk driving firsthand.
Justin Krider, a senior English Major and owner of the truck, found the entire situation ridiculous.” The beer was in the bed of the truck. It obviously did not belong to them. It was stupid to pour them all out and be punished for it. What if you were driving your Dad’s car and there was beer in it? Would this happen?”
This incident, coupled with infinite stories of tailgate stings and undercover cops visiting house parties, got my mind reeling. How careful do we as students need to be? Are there instances of privacy invasion with this so-called “Party Patrol” traipsing around Tempe? Justin himself has witnessed instances of sneaky police operations firsthand, specifically at ASU tailgates. He observed small groups of men and women dressed in typical civilian clothing make friends with pre-game revelers. He says the police officers would approach “ready to party, share a beer and some conversation and then ask everyone to show their IDs.” “They looked old,” he added, though it didn’t seem out of place. At this given game, at least six fans were handed tickets.
Senior Jim Kennedy spoke of his experiences being caught off guard by a similar group of police officers. “I was just drinking a beer at a tailgate when some older woman walked up to me, asked me a few questions and then told me to show ID.” Dressed in Sun Devil gear, he never placed her as any sort of threat. Both these students came away from their respective situations with a strong desire to avoid tailgating all together. Risks involved in sharing a few cold drinks before a football game were not worth the potential consequences.
In an interview for a 2007 East Valley Tribune article, Tempe Police Sgt. Dan Masters noted roughly 100 arrests before a home football game against San Diego State University. He said that, “within the first hour, there have been close to a dozen arrests,” and that “about all the arrests have been for individuals under the age of 21.” Sophomore Allison Dixon wasn’t sure if tailgates had been rowdier in previous years, but said “I’d feel nervous drinking before a game now. I know so many people that have gotten in trouble. It just doesn’t seem worth it.”
House parties pose similar problems. In a 2005 Tempe Police Department document, then-Police Chief Robert Tranter answered some basic questions about the Party Patrol and the guidelines it utilizes. According to the Tempe Police Department, “a gathering of five or more people that are creating a disturbance” constitutes a party. The Party Patrol initially consisted of only four to five officers willing to answer party calls on weekends, with upwards of 20 officers both from ASU, Tempe, and state liquor board agents dispatched in tailgate situations. Since establishing a partnership with ASU Police, the squad has grown in more ways than one. Current Police Chief Angel Carbajal in recent city task force meetings spoke to the steady decline of loud party calls. While the police force is recognizing an increase in mid-afternoon parties, they find success in busting frequent late-night “party houses.”
The punishments for partying are stiff. According to Party Patrol guidelines, the first offense for a house party is just a warning. After that, music must be turned down, people may be asked to leave and partiers may be asked to keep their celebrations indoors. The second time, however, fines could reach $1,000 and 90-day restrictions can be awarded, meaning that any partying before that sentence is over results in serious ticketing. Sophomore Jordan Claire was at a party recently when the police arrived. The homeowner, unsure of how to react, refused to open his front door for more than 10 minutes. “When they finally opened the door, the police officers had already called for backup. They were so mad they breathalyzed every single person that left. No warnings.” That night exactly 74 tickets for Minor in Consumption of Alcohol were awarded.
This “crack-down” is both unfortunate and understandable. Legally, underage drinking is unlawful and dangerous. But is the penetrating police force sucking all the fun out of game days and party nights? “It’s tough because I really want to have a good time, but I want to be safe. I hope the police can find some sort of medium so that we can still have fun,” says Katie, a sophomore. It is a dilemma for the ages.
Reach the reporter at choppens@asu.edu.
