Police arrest intoxicated people to prevent alcohol-related crimes

by Yosuke Takanashi
Staff Writer

Some people who drink excessively Uptown on weekends become out of control and vandalize property, but local law enforcement agencies are working to combat the problem.

"We do actively patrol in high-risk areas," Athens Police Department Lt. Tom Pyle said. APD officers patrol until 3 or 4 a.m. to prevent destruction like keyed cars or damaged vending machine, he said.

Ohio University Police Department Lt. Travis Potts said some intoxicated people cause problems on campus.

"They tear things up on campus. They punch windows out. They walk on or key people's cars," he said.

Potts said inebriated people cause about 90 percent of the vandalism on campus.

"If we (control) the amount of intoxicated people on the streets, we are able to reduce the amount of vandalism done on campus," Potts said.

To prevent alcohol-related crimes, APD officers focus on arresting inebriated people.

"We've been successful (in reducing vandalism)," he said. "Ten years ago we probably had doubled vandalism compared to what we have now."

If intoxicated people are unable to control themselves, police officers can arrest them. The officers then can take them to the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville or have sober friends come to pick them up.

Officers also can take intoxicated people to O'Bleness Memorial Hospital to receive treatment instead of taking them to the jail and having them call their friends to supervise them.

Holly Snedecor-Gray, public relations manager for O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, said treatment for intoxicated people is on a case-by-case basis.

Medical staffs evaluate how intoxicated the person is and see if he or she has simply been drinking or if he or she also has been taking drugs.

From late evenings to the morning hours, inebriated people are sent to the hospital by police officers. The medical staff seems to encounter more drunken people on weekends than on weekdays and more during final exams than at other times, Snedecor-Gray said.

A majority of young people who did not drink before coming to school experiment with it, he said. Some students and townspeople also consume alcohol excessively.

"It's a mix of people," Potts said.