BLOOMINGTON -
Call it an inauspicious way to start the school year. "Welcome Week" at Indiana University led to a number of students in court Monday morning. Excise police were on patrol and issued a record number of citations.
Officers issued 258 citations and jailed nearly two-dozen students. In all, 177 people were cited for illegal possession or consumption of alcohol, while 19 minors got tickets for having fake identification. Police also sought medical treatment for four highly intoxicated people - all with blood alcohol content in excess of .25%.
Indiana University sophomore Brittany Goldstein told us how some students get fake IDs to buy alcohol for partying on campus.
"There are websites you can go and just order them off of or if you know someone. I am from Maryland and I know someone who makes fake IDs," she said.
One of Brittany's friends was arrested.
"He actually got caught by an undercover cop. He said they were in flannel. He bought the alcohol and then he came outside and they were like, 'can I see your real ID?'" she said.
It's Russtin Trotter's first year at Indiana University and his first welcome week. He doesn't drink, but witnessed underaged students partying with alcohol.
"I saw a couple of people get a couple of drinks too many you could say, but I guess that's college," he said.
During welcome week at IU, uniformed and undercover excise police caught more intoxicated students under 21 than ever before. They're hoping to send a zero tolerance message.
"We really want to make an impact not just on the number of students who drink but the amounts of alcohol that would lead to the binge drinking. We want to work on that problem," said Travis Thickstun, Indiana Excise Police.
The problem seems to be getting worse. During IU Welcome Week this year, officers issued 258 student citations for alcohol-related charges. That's up from last year's number of citations at 191 and 138 the year before that.
This year in Bloomington some students had dangerous blood alcohol levels, commonly known as BAC.
"We took four students to the hospital with BACs of .25 or above," said Thickstun.
Undercover excise police also work bars like Kilroy's. That's where they found a female student with a high BAC.
"Standing outside of bars, inside of bars, the idea being if you are the underaged person or the adult who is going to buy alcohol for a minor, you don't know who the undercover officer might or might not be," said Thickstun.
Police are also calling on parents to talk to their children about underage drinking.
Jose Beyer's daughter attends IU.
"She doesn't drink whatsoever, but she's curious about it. I said it's not bad to have a little bit, to have a little sip, just wait 'til you're 21," he said.
Excise police say if more parents talked to their children about alcohol dangers, officers would probably have fewer reasons to issue citations.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WTHR. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
