Off-Campus Parties Harden Relations Between Students and Police Force

Author: Megan O'Keefe

The continued movement of weekend social life from on-campus events to parties hosted in off-campus senior housing has spurred growing tensions between College students, local residents, and the Middlebury Police Department. What College students have noted as a year of growing popularity in off-campus partying has been recognized by Chief Thomas Hanley of the Middlebury Police Department as one of the worst years of alcohol-related student conduct in Middlebury College history. "We have never seen a year like this, where the abuse of alcohol has been this bad on the part of college students," Hanley said. The Middlebury Police Department has received an increasing number of complaints from residents about noise, litter, and belligerent behavior resulting from neighborhood parties. Students, on the other hand, have traded in criticisms of the College alcohol citation policy for protests against police interference and tickets distributed for consumption of alcohol by a minor.
One Middlebury sophomore female expressed concern with police policy after she received a ticket in the mail citing consumption of alcohol by a minor two weeks after she was taken by friends to Porter Hospital due to a head injury that occurred when the intoxicated student slipped on ice at an off-campus party. The student was astonished to receive the citation despite the fact that she had not been breathalysed at the hospital.
Hanley strongly defended the ticket's issuance, noting an officer was dispatched to Porter Hospital at the request of "someone at the hospital." He continued, "It was readily apparent that [the student], suffering a head injury, had been consuming alcohol and was impaired due to alcohol consumption. Unlike DUI, there is no minimum threshold. People who have consumed alcohol exhibit both physical and physiological signs of consumption. These signs in themselves are sufficient to support a charge."
The female student is currently planning on contesting the charge in court. "I am incredibly frustrated," she said. "I think this will discourage students from seeking medical assistance in the future." Along with the $100 fine stipulated by her ticket, the student is required also to sit before a psychatrist, attend a class at Porter Hospital and complete 15 hours of community service. She is currently struggling to understand the fact that this punishment occured because she sought medical help. She added, "They never told me they were giving me a ticket."
While students are often accustomed to the College's alcohol citation policy that targets individuals currently in possession of an alcoholic beverage, off-campus behavior is regulated much more stringently by the police department. Hanley is quick to note that a first offense is a Vermont Civil Violation Complaint ticket, and criminal charges are not delivered unless a second incident occurs.
In addition to charges of consumption of alcohol by a minor, students have expressed concern over the treatment of designated drivers transporting intoxicated students. Several students attending a party on South Munger Street charged that the driver of a bus hired to transport intoxicated students to and from the off-campus party was pulled over and interrogated. While Hanley acknowledges that the bus driver was stopped by a Middlebury Police Officer, he said, "The driver was completely ignoring stop signs. He received two tickets that night from two different officers. [The officer] was protecting the students. [The bus driver] was driving like a maniac." Further praising the behavior of the police officers involved in the ticketing, Hanley said, "The language and the abusive conduct of the people on that bus was just something that I would characterize as repugnant. It was unjustified and they should be ashamed of themselves. It was clear to the officers that the students had been drinking. But, they retained their composure and did not engage those students." Remarkably, none of the students in the vehicle were ticketed by the officers.
On other occasions, Hanley noted, the police have amply demonstrated their support of designated drivers. When a car full of sophomore and junior students was pulled over on Weybridge Street due to a burnt out tail-light, the driver, contrary to rumors, was not held responsible for the intoxicated minors who did receive tickets. While designated drivers are encouraged by the police department, Hanley reminds students, "The presence of a designated driver doesn't reduce the liability on the part of the [passengers]. They are not supposed to drink. If they do, they risk a number of consequences. One of those, and actually the least troubling and invasive, is law enforcement action." In response to the complaint that officers have unfairly targeted student drinkers, Hanley responded, "In 2002, our officers stopped over 3,200 automobiles for a variety of equipment, regulatory and operation violations." There is no history on the part of the Middlebury Police Department of punishing designated drivers.
Responding to student complaints about a perceived "severity" on the part of the police department, Hanley said, "In all the cases, students were acting both irresponsibly and unlawfully. This inevitably brings them into contact with our officers who initiate action that serves as a consequence for this behavior. The policies and practices of the intracampus departments and services perhaps establish some misunderstandings with the realities of what occurs in the greater community. There is no double standard when it comes to our officers taking action. The fact that the college institution, by practice, does not initiate punitive consequences for this behavior is irrelevant to our operation."
On any weekend night, the police department receives a number of complaints from Middlebury residents who have reported, according to Hanley, students screaming and disturbing sleeping children and vomiting in their backyards.
He said: "It is disturbing to me to hear that students actually seem to excuse this conduct and indeed, villify the department for taking action in these cases. This attitude and perception seem to be the underlying cause for the problems that we face almost nightly. I hope the remainder of the springtime can find our neighborhoods and streets returned to the peace and tranquility the residents have earned. We don't enjoy conflict anymore than the students do, but this matter is squarely in their hands."