Lifeline law aims to encourage calls for help - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The alcohol crackdown in this campus town has already cited hundreds of illegal drinkers.

But twice this semester, Bloomington police have already used their long-established policy of not charging illegal drinkers if they call 911 to help someone in danger due to alcohol.

"Our primary focus all along has been to take care of the medical situation first," said Bloomington Police Captain Joe Qualters.

Purdue, the University of Indianapolis and others have similar policies, and now the new Indiana Life Line Law extends that immunity statewide.

"You can still be prosecuted for providing alcohol to a person underage," warns Captain Qualters, "so it's not a complete get out of jail free card."

You must also stay with the victim and cooperate fully with police and medics in order to avoid prosecution.

"It could help," says IU freshman Hannah Fox. "A lot of people could hold back if they feel like, oh my gosh, I could get in trouble."

The lifeline law doesn't mean there is loosened enforcement. "We want to let them know it is not acceptable," says Officer Travis Thickstun with Indiana Excise Police.

So just like last spring when Eyewitness News rode with excise police in Bloomington, agents netted over three hundred on alcohol charges around IU, Notre Dame and Ball State this weekend.

In Bloomington, they made a record number of alcohol busts for Welcome Weekend, and twice as many as two years ago.

"We came across people stumbling on the street into traffic by the side of the road," said Thickstun. Four had to go to hospital when alcohol readings more than three times the legal limit were found.

Police say parents need to talk with their kids before sending them off to college. Rob Longendyke, touring the IU campus with his 12th grade son, agrees. "College is a lot of fun, but you've got to think about the future and get control of yourself."