MONTINE RUMMEL/Arizona Daily Wildcat Partiers can expect to see more police involvement this fall, at least when it comes to party raids. So-called Îred-tags' are used to punish people who have held raided parties.

Underage drinkers could face jail time if caught partying

As the first week of school comes to a close, students may find their weekend celebrations cut short.

The Tucson Police Department will be stepping up their patrol of off-campus parties over the entire semester, with the intention of reducing violence in the campus area.

"We're going to be paying much more attention to youth alcohol abuse than we have in the past," said Tucson Police Capt. John Leavitt, commander of the Mid-Town Division.

Officers believe the key is controlling the alcohol consumption of the younger residents of the area.

"It has become clear to us that youth alcohol abuse is a key factor in youth violence," Leavitt said. "Our experience has taught us that if we can combat the youth alcohol problem, we can effectively lower the rates and occurrences of youth violence."

According to Leavitt, the main demographic of the population that is under scrutiny are males from 16 to 24 years old.

On the UA campus, violent crimes, including assault and sexual assault have risen along with alcohol violations on two separate occasions in the past four years.

In 2002, there were 214 liquor violations, up from 170 the year before. During those years, there were 58 assault arrests, up from 48 the year before, according to UAPD statistics.

The same increase was seen in 2000, when there were 230 alcohol related arrests and 64 assault arrests, an increase of 43 and 20 from the previous year, respectively.

The connection between alcohol and violence is very clear, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman.

"It seems that the two are a bad mix," he said. "It seems that whenever you have violence after hours and it involves youth, it normally involves alcohol. The two are hand in hand when it comes to solving criminal violence."

Leavitt said TPD officers will be doing more than just handing out noise violation stickers, know as "red tags," to residents that hold parties.

Red tags, a citation given to those who violate noise ordinances, are designed to be warnings for residents. If noise ordinances are violated again, the residents will be fined $4,000.

TPD officers will be actively searching for off-campus gatherings in order to stop minors from drinking.

"As it relates to our youth alcohol enforcement effort, we do go out and look for youth drinking at these parties," he said. "We tell (officers) to try to find areas where there appear to be youths participating."

The department plans to use both plain-clothes and uniformed officers to gain access to parties. Police will also utilize a "controlled dispersal technique," which helps to control people after the party is broken up.

"Just dispersing the crowd was a danger to the community," he said. "We know that if you take a group of people drinking, especially young drinkers, and unleash them onto the public afterwards, you risk violence or somebody getting killed in an accident."

Once police have an idea that there are minors drinking at a party, they will set up a "containment net" around the house. After making contact with the partiers, police will attempt to stop people who try to leave by surrounding the residence with multiple officers.

Another change will be that if people do not have identification or possess fake identification, the consequence will be more severe.

"If you don't have ID, or you have a fake ID, and you are under 21 years old, you will be booked into jail every time," Leavitt, said. "The message is simple, you have a fake or no ID, you spend the night in jail."

This change is in response to recent warrants issued to the wrong people after offenders gave the names and addresses of their friends instead of their own. This, Leavitt said, has become a very embarrassing problem for everybody involved.

"We arrest them for the warrant and they're humiliated and booked into jail for a crime they didn't commit, all because their roommate used their name," he said. "Sometimes they were not even in the state (when their names were given)."

For students, the new enforcement will come as a dramatic change to the norm.

Brandon Peterson, a computer science senior, was served with a red-tag citation following a party at his home six months ago. Although his neighbors gave him permission, the police were still called. The party was broken up, but the officer did not hand anybody citations.

"(The officer) more or less wanted to put the fear of the police in our heads," Peterson said. "Was it a good deterrent? I don't think so. We didn't have any more parties there because we were more worried about the fines."

Leavitt said that will change once minors start spending time in jail as a result of the new policy.

"Just dispersing the crowd just doesn't work," he said. "We're taking this very seriously."