Category: Crime and Punishment

The author is getting hammered here (no pun intended), but he’s right.

Anyone who thinks alcohol is not a crisis issue with our young people has their head up their a$$.

No kidding.

From ENEWSPF:

>I have no sympathy for young, self-entitled adults extending their adolescence with alleged illegal behavior, particularly when it comes to alcohol. I would never argue for prohibition, but regulation is important. Notre Dame undergraduates, like those at many other colleges and universities, don’t deal well with alcohol and often act stupidly.

The article then quotes from Notre Dame’s Observer. We will quote more extensively here than the original article at ENEWSPF did:

The second major police raid last weekend resulted in a broken-down door, landed a police officer in the hospital and brought the total number of alcohol-related arrests since students returned to school to nearly 60.

The incident, in which students reportedly refused to open the door and one person punched and kicked an officer while resisting arrest, sent 35 people to jail.

The recent trend to arrest — rather than cite — students for underage drinking has caught the attention of both students and the University.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said the administration is working to address the issue.

“We clearly don’t condone underage drinking or gatherings that infringe on the rights of others,” Brown said. “At the same time, the welfare of our students is our highest priority.

“We have concerns about the handling of some recent incidents that we are actively addressing through appropriate channels.”

Indiana State Excise Police busted a party on Turtle Creek Drive Sunday morning and arrested 32 people for minor consuming alcohol, one person for public intoxication and one person for furnishing alcohol to minors.

One person was also arrested for resisting law enforcement, battery to a police officer, disorderly conduct and minor consuming alcohol.

Tim Cleveland, excise police commander for the district, said many of those arrested were Notre Dame students, but he could not confirm that all were students.

The excise police were in the area of the party because South Bend police asked them to check a location of another party. When officers arrived, the party they had been called for was not occurring, but they discovered the party on Turtle Creek Drive, Cleveland said.

“They stumbled across the one at Turtle Creek,” he said.

Meanwhile, South Bend police received a call for trespassing at the same party.

“There were individuals who were climbing the fence to gain access to the pool, which was closed,” Cleveland said.

South Bend and excise police officers were denied access to the apartment and waited for two hours to obtain a search warrant. Once the warrant was obtained, the residents continued to deny officers entry and South Bend police broke down the door. (Emphasis added)

Cleveland said officers decided to arrest rather than issue citations for underage drinking because of the resistance they encountered.

“They still didn’t open the door even though they knew we had a search warrant,” he said. “Then when we did gain access into the residence, people were hiding in closets and everywhere else that they could find.”

A police officer was injured when one person resisted arrest. He spent most of Sunday at South Bend Memorial Hospital.

Personally, I have no patience with people who behave as idiots, and even less when their behavior results in the injury of a police officer.

These children have a lot of learning ahead of them.

Yes they do.

Notre Dame officials seem to be considering PR, and nothing else.

ND would be wise to issue a simple statement, "We support the efforts of law enforcement officers to keep the peace, and we do not support students who break the law."