Editor’s note: Davis Koier wrote this article for the Dec. 4 edition of Basement Medicine, the Johnson State College student newspaper.
JOHNSON — Several large student parties in Johnson have been broken up by the police this year, including an incident on French Hill Road in September during which officers screened more than 71 people and issued over 30 tickets for underage drinking.
Another bust on Halloween night sent an undetermined number of Johnson State College partygoers scampering into the woods hoping to elude police.
Ron Audet, a sergeant with the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department, says “[Police have been called to] more [parties] this year than last year. Last year [there] was a decline, seems like it goes in a cycle. Every three or four years it’ll spike up and then… fade out.”
Lamoille County State’s Attorney Joel Page says police typically investigate parties that generate complaints from neighbors.
“What’s been happening is (with) these huge parties are going on, people are not using much discretion or very good judgment in things like noise or parking and keeping it discrete and so complaints get made,” said Page. “The police have to respond; once they become aware of it… they can’t just walk away.”
Page indicated that early and definitive response by police could have a deterrent effect.
“I think there is a sense that if you respond firmly and openly at the beginning of the year, word may get around that you have to be a little more discrete and maybe downsize a little bit on parties,” he said.
The frequency of police crackdowns has fueled speculation that the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department is taking a firmer stand on parties held by Johnson students.
While there has been no official change in police policy recently, there have been more investigations of college parties in Johnson this year than last.
When police are called to a party, Audet says they follow the same basic procedure.
“If it’s a small [party] then the officer will handle it himself,” Audet says. “If he needs one or two officers he’ll call them from surrounding departments for officer safety reasons, obviously. If it’s a rather large party… they will gather what information they can and then they will activate a START team.”
START, which stands for Stop Teenage Alcohol Risk Tragedy, is a multi-departmental team of police officers that responds to reports of a large party with underage drinking.
“It’s probably been more than 10 years ago now, but before they had START teams, there were a number of basically riot situations where the party mobbed, turned on the one or two officers that were responding,” said Page. “Police were assaulted and injured and a lot of property damage was done.”
With the fall semester nearly at an end, it remains to be seen whether an increased police presence at parties will continue.
“You can be sure that the police hate getting those calls,” said Page. “If underage drinkers would just be more discrete and careful … there wouldn’t be a problem.”
