Crackdown on off-campus drinking

By Delano R. Massey ~ Lexington Herald-Leader ~ Sat, Aug. 27, 2005

In a secluded parking lot just minutes from Virginia Avenue, four University of Kentucky students stood near their vehicle downing beer after beer and crushing can after can.

In less than 30 minutes, the quartet, all clad in brown khaki pants, dress shirts and ties, made five 24-packs of Natural Lite vanish.

But they didn't drink any of the beer. Instead, they poured it out on shrubs under the watchful eye of UK Police Maj. Joe Monroe and several other officers.

It was shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday night -- a night notorious for igniting a weekend of partying -- and UK police were on day two of a crackdown on off-campus partying and underage drinking.

On this night, UK officers, working with Lexington police, would send undercover officers to scope out the party scene, issue more than a dozen citations and force students to dump out untold gallons of beer and booze.

The four students, faces glum, were among the first of the night to be busted as minors in possession of alcohol. The driver claimed ownership of the cases of brew, earning himself a citation for possession and allowing his buddies to get off the hook criminally. Academically, they could all be in trouble, as the officers will pass on their names to the dean of students.

How the four students, years shy of 21, came to have the alcohol is a secret they refused to share with police.

Although Monroe couldn't get them to tell how they got it, he was certain of one thing: "They're going to go back and tell everyone what happened to them. Maybe we can't stop everyone, but we're going to get our message out."

The police party task force was supposed to be launched this weekend, but it went into effect Wednesday -- a day after the death of UK sophomore Thomas Joseph Byers III, who was struck and killed by a train after running from campus police at an off-campus party.

Campus police have joined forces with city police and officers from Kentucky Alcohol Beverage Control to beef up patrols on and off campus and to go on the prowl for keg parties and underage drinking.

UK is a dry campus, so alcohol is prohibited.

If an underage student is caught drinking or in possession of alcohol, Monroe said, the student could receive a citation, go to jail and be referred to the dean of students.

Word is spreading

Monroe, who has been an officer with UK since 1994, says there's little doubt that students have heard about the crackdown. This Thursday was slower than most, he said.

Still, in just two nights, a handful of student parties have been infiltrated by young-looking officers donning plain clothes and cruising the campus in unmarked cars or trucks.

"We have one guy who looks like he's 14 -- he blends in real well," Monroe said. "They'll go in and talk to kids and see what they have."

Well into the midnight hour, officers pounded the beat looking for traces of alcohol -- beer cans, bottles, cups of alcohol and stumbling students. They concentrate on areas commonly known for partying: streets around Rose Street, near Columbia Avenue and branching off South Limestone.

On many occasions, the officers' search for alcohol was made easy when students unwittingly led plain-clothes officers to the beer and other drinks.

That's how the officers put themselves in position to nab three kegs and dispose of a baby pool filled with 30 gallons of "hooch" -- pure grain liquor, fruit slices and punch -- with a running fountain.

On Thursday, 14 alcohol-related citations were issued. The night before, police issued nine.

The task force has several other tools at its disposal to help curb underage drinking and off-campus parties. This summer, the university revised the student code of conduct, giving UK more ways to deal with off-campus mischief. The measures include suspending students, putting them on probation or notifying their parents.

A keg ordinance passed by the city in 2003 allows officers to track kegs with a tag that must be visible. The tags can be traced back to keg purchasers. If there isn't a tag visible, officers can confiscate the keg.

Police also use the four-year-old Lexington Area Party Plan, which helps officers identify "party houses" and issue warnings and increasingly tough penalties for repeat offenders. In the past two years, 25 party plan citations have been written.

Police deal with more parties the first couple weeks of school because of fraternity and sorority rush. Parties might start out at frat houses, but Monroe said they typically end up filtering off-campus.

Underage drinking at off-campus parties preceded tragedies this year and last: Byers' death this week, and the death of Brian A. Muth, a 19-year-old UK sophomore who last year was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on New Circle Road after being released from the Fayette County jail.

Monroe said police have determined that Byers drank first at his residence, then went "party hopping." He parked his car near the corner of Marquis and Columbia avenues and went to at least two other parties before heading to a large off-campus party early Tuesday at Conn Terrace and South Limestone. Police showed up at that party, and Byers ran, eventually ending up on train tracks near Virginia Avenue.

A negative impression

Monroe crept down Columbia Avenue on Thursday, his head swiveling left to right as he watched hundreds of students, many of them with red plastic cups in their hands. Driving down Pennsylvania Court, Monroe spotted two students and zeroed in on one holding a cup.

"What's in the cup?" Monroe inquired as he rolled his truck to a stop.

Kyle Reed, a senior majoring in communications, snapped back: "It's called a soft drink."

The 21-year-old told Monroe cops were too "aggressive" and "that's the reason (students) run from them."

Monroe emphasized that the officers were trying to help students and that older students like Reed can help younger students learn responsibility.

Still, Reed walked away with a negative impression.

"The students here feel threatened to talk to police -- they're scared of them and intimidated by them. They don't feel like they're here to help," he said. "There's gotta be worse things going on in town. They've got too much time on their hands."

Just a few blocks away from Columbia, police crashed a party in back of a white, two-story home in the 500 block of Woodland Avenue.

The party was shut down because a minor was caught with a drink.

If one minor is served alcohol, police shut the entire party down. If it's off-campus and everyone was of legal drinking age, it wouldn't be a problem, but "that very rarely happens," Monroe said

In an instant, a herd of cup-toting students migrated to the street, heading home or in search of the next party.

"A lot of times, all we have to do is show up and they'll leave," Monroe said.

Lexington police Lt. William Henderson, who oversees the alcoholic beverage control unit, said police aren't cracking down for the sole purpose of spoiling parties.

"There's nothing wrong with partying," Henderson said. "But when you start doing it illegally and if you're drinking under 21 ... it's against the law."

When citations are handed out, Henderson said, it's unfortunate because kids end up having criminal records. But safety and security come first.

"They may be thinking we're wrecking the party, but I assure you their parents are probably glad we're wrecking the party, if you want to call it that," Henderson said.