Gameday law enforcement taking a lighter touch?

ICHawk24

ICHawk24

Well-Known Member
http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/pu...s-charges-plummet-at-kinnick-stadium-20140903

IOWA CITY — The season-opening football game at Kinnick Stadium saw a steep drop-off of game day arrests and citations in and around the stadium, according to University of Iowa police.

Police arrested just three people for public intoxication and charged three others for underage possession of alcohol. No one over the age of 24 was charged with a crime.

David Visin, UI associate director of public safety, said his records, which date back to 2009, show it was the calmest game day ever for law enforcement.

In 2010, officials at the University of Iowa launched the “Think Before You Drinkâ€￾ campaign, which saw huge spikes in a number of offenses. During the 2010 season opening game at Kinnick Stadium, police charged 119 people with possessing an open container. Between 2011 and 2013 they charged another 180 people with possessing an open container during season opening games. On Saturday. not a single person was cited for having an open container.

UI Police took to Twitter Saturday afternoon to acknowledge the good behavior of the fans, while noting there was no lack of festivities.
“We were a little concerned when the loud party calls started at 0630, but you got it together & had a great day,â€￾ tweeted the official “U of Iowa Policeâ€￾ account.

Officials with the UI athletic department and police department were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
 
I think the title of this thread is quite apropos. They can compliment folks for finally seeing the light and changing their ways,if they like. But I think rational people know Jonny Law decided to ease up a bit and stop citing Aunt Edna for sipping her wine spritzer before the game.
 
I have a feeling the AD had something to do with this. The gameday experience has been lacking in recent years and the po po's crack down has contributed to this. Less hasles from the police means more tickets sold.
 
We were walking down a street towards Melrose with beers in our hands and two cops drove right by us on their bikes, and didn't say a word. I kept turning around expecting them to stop us, but they just kept going.

Good story ;)
 
iowalaw said:
I have a feeling the AD had something to do with this. The gameday experience has been lacking in recent years and the po po's crack down has contributed to this. Less hasles from the police means more tickets sold.
Click to expand...

^^^^ Exactly. Follow the money.
 
I don't think it will help sell tickets. Scorned customers are hard to get back. I know I won't go back as long as Barta is AD.
 
I usually park in the library parking lot, I would love to again have a beer on my walk to the stadium. Are they not going to bust people now? Is it just for sidestreets, or the main roads? What an expensive gamble that could and up being.
 
"LET THE PEOPLE DRINK!!" GB

I think the crackdown has been excessive the last few years and maybe they are realizing it. Arrest the ones that are causing problems not the ones that are walking mostly in a straight line with a beer in hand, and not bothering anyone. I was kind of surprised to see two police officers come walking through where I tailgate as it's private property (I thought) but they seemed more engrossed in the conversation they were having with each other than what was going on around them.
 
Now that I think about it, I didn't see a single cop while tailgating in our lot by Carver. This was the first game in a long time where I can say that.
 
MNHawkeyeFreak said:
"LET THE PEOPLE DRINK!!" GB

I think the crackdown has been excessive the last few years and maybe they are realizing it. Arrest the ones that are causing problems not the ones that are walking mostly in a straight line with a beer in hand, and not bothering anyone. I was kind of surprised to see two police officers come walking through where I tailgate as it's private property (I thought) but they seemed more engrossed in the conversation they were having with each other than what was going on around them.
Click to expand...

The beautiful lady has it correct.

If someone isn't a danger to himself or herself, someone else, or property (which includes secreting and/or expelling of bodily fluids on real estate), and isn't otherwise engaged in conduct which is beyond the reasonable norms of the community, let them be.

That said, don't drive if you have been drinking--even a little. If it is that important to you and your group that everyone engages in alcohol consumption, get a cab and/or hotel room.
 
I seriously doubt the excessive drinking will ever reach the levels that it did back in the 80's and 90's. Perhaps it was wilder before but I recall come insane tailgates in those years. Olive Court was bonkers in the mid 2000's as well. Ah the days when you could leave Kinnick at halftime, have a few beers, then return to the stadium.
 
One of those public intox arrests was a guy sitting in front of me. What are the odds? He definitely had it coming though, he was way out of his mind and was starting fights with everybody. Nobody had to rat him out either, he was doing all of this in front of about 10 state troopers standing near the tunnel. They came up, cuffed him, and then walked him up the tunnel.
 
We always park in Linn St ramp and walk across to stadium (zero traffic hassles after the game and little exercise, to boot ;)) On way back to car you could see the cluster fvck developing as they blocked off the sidewalk below the Law building and were funneling everyone across to the overpass -- even though the sidewalk was not obstructed by any of the construction -- I guess just to keep people from crossing Riverside Drive for "safety sake". I began venting to my wife how tired I was of the IC Nazis always trying to control everyone's moves, unnecessarily, under the guise of "safety" or some other bvllsh!t excuse when it's just another example of how they've perverted their elected power into justifying themselves as the parental authority over the entire public. For God's sake, we're all adults, or at least old enough to know how to cross a busy street! Those that don't, well, ... thin the herd; the gene pool just took another evolutionary step forward.

Anyway, on cue, a large group of students surged below the overpass and down the other side of the street toward Riverside Dr, all the time chanting, "Arms up, don't shoot." It was hilarious and admirable, all at once. I'm even proud to report not a single injury nor accident. Imagine that?

Here's the best part ... As we proceeded down Burlington, 2 men were near the Rec & Wellness Center (sidebar: Where the hell was that when I was in school!!?? That is one fine facility!) were looking back toward the fray and, as we approached, noticed they were University Public Safety Officers. They actually stopped us and asked if we had crossed Riverside. I asked, "Why?" and they explained they were trying to assess the traffic situation for the games. Both me and the Mrs took that as our "green light" and let 'em know, "What a cluster F! We're all big enough to cross the street; let 'em cross. If anything, control traffic on the street. For that matter, everyone knows there's a game and 70,000 people are gonna come and go; if you're dumb enough to drive that way, you're gonna have to deal with longer lights and heavy traffic." They were good sports about it, joked about our bluntness and said they were trying to look at options.

How 'bout that? Maybe the U IS really trying to tone it down and make it a bit more fan-friendly.
 
My friends and I walked all the way down melrose to the stadium from finkbine with open beers and never even got second looks from the cops.

I have 2 theories on this. First of all I think they've been "directed" to loosen up on the violations because the tailgating scene has taken a few hits from the public lately. Second, I believe a lot of those "best party schools" are attributed to alcohol related citations, so cutting back on those might help the "party school" image the university pretends it hates so badly.
 
ICHawk24 said:
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
Click to expand...

My "nose" has a 120" HD projector/screen, free parking, all the booze you could ever want to drink, a grill, a smoker, a cajun crab pot and a dozen or so people that I actually enjoy hanging out with........so I think my "face" will be just fine. And I got all of that for about the same amount I would normally spend for a pair of season tickets/donations/parking/etc.
 
stevoskin said:
One of those public intox arrests was a guy sitting in front of me. What are the odds? He definitely had it coming though, he was way out of his mind and was starting fights with everybody. Nobody had to rat him out either, he was doing all of this in front of about 10 state troopers standing near the tunnel. They came up, cuffed him, and then walked him up the tunnel.
Click to expand...

Good for them and you. Those are the types of clowns that need to be policed and when the U of I sent out the letter in summer of 2010 about the upcoming "crack down on the trouble makers", That's what everyone assumed they were talking about. Everyone has seen the types of drunks you have posted about, in the stadium or stumbling around outside. People that can't control themselves should be arrested. I just failed to see the logic in writing a 70 yr old man a ticket because he is drinking a beer.
 
lightning1 said:
Good for them and you. Those are the types of clowns that need to be policed and when the U of I sent out the letter in summer of 2010 about the upcoming "crack down on the trouble makers", That's what everyone assumed they were talking about. Everyone has seen the types of drunks you have posted about, in the stadium or stumbling around outside. People that can't control themselves should be arrested. I just failed to see the logic in writing a 70 yr old man a ticket because he is drinking a beer.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right! Unfortunately, it took the University and the fuzz 4 years to see that there was no logic in writing that 70-year-old man a ticket!
 
MNHawkeyeFreak said:
"LET THE PEOPLE DRINK!!" GB

I think the crackdown has been excessive the last few years and maybe they are realizing it. Arrest the ones that are causing problems not the ones that are walking mostly in a straight line with a beer in hand, and not bothering anyone. I was kind of surprised to see two police officers come walking through where I tailgate as it's private property (I thought) but they seemed more engrossed in the conversation they were having with each other than what was going on around them.
Click to expand...

So maybe we'll be okay when we get together to crush brews before kickoff?
sshhhoootttgguuuun!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top