If you are underage, and you choose to drink in Eugene, the operating phrase is Caveat Potor: let the drinker beware.
“We have quite a reputation for issuing a lot of alcohol-related citations,” Sgt. Rick Gilliam of the Eugene Police Department’s Campus Team said. “Our marching orders are zero tolerance.”
For those students new to the University, or to Eugene, it is important to understand the house rules involving alcohol. Expect no nods, winks or warnings from the EPD.
“I think it’s a foregone conclusion that there’s going to be underage drinking at universities,” said Gilliam. “There’s going to be tons of people out there drinking alcohol, not knowing what the consequences are if they get caught.”
Some students have already experienced those consequences.
“It’s a calculated risk every time you go out drinking on the town,” said recently-turned 21-year-old senior Bill Beutler, whose most recent citation, for misrepresentation of age, resulted in 6 months of legal woes, 80 hours of community service and a $400 fine.
“If you’re at a party and you can escape, by all means, escape,” he said. “Save your own skin. People will understand, even if you can still see the scar two years later.”
Beutler rolled back his sleeve to display the jagged result of a drunken leap over a chain-link fence.
“I’ve been at parties where I’ve given up backpacks. The backpack costs $25. The beer in it costs $10. The smokes cost five. You’ve got to look at the larger picture.”
A minor in possession citation currently brings a $250 fine.
According to Gilliam, having alcohol in your system is enough to constitute possession.
“We don’t give breathalyzer tests in that situation,” he said. “It’s based on observations such as the smell of alcohol, horizontal gaze eye tests, balance or if the person admits to drinking.”
Because it is a non-criminal violation, the burden of proof is very low, said Ilona Koleszar, an attorney with ASUO Legal Services.
“They don’t need a lot besides these so-called ‘objective’ standards,” she said.
Koleszar advises students to give the police as little ammunition as possible.
“There is no penalty for refusing a sobriety test. If he asks you to blow on his face or onto his flashlight, decline,” she said.
No matter how agitated the officer becomes, or what they claim to be the law, you have a constitutional right to remain silent. Exercise it.
“It’s really hard to say nothing,” Koleszar said. “The temptation is to try to talk your way out of it, schmooz the guy a little, make an explanation. You’re trying to please the officer, hoping he’ll just let you go.
“But they won’t let you go. They ticket everybody they can possibly ticket. If they don’t give you the ticket, they don’t get the money.”
Later, in court, you can attack the officer’s observations one by one: someone spilled beer on you at a party; you’d been drinking O’Doul’s; you’d been up all night studying, hence the bad balance and diction, etc.
But the less you give them in the first place, the less you have to explain away. Do not, under any circumstances, admit that you have been drinking.
You are not required to identify yourself, either verbally or with physical identification.
“If you refuse to tell them who you are, you should expect to be detained,” warned Koleszar. “If you have truthfully told them who you are, you have no obligation to prove it to them. You’ve told them your name and they can do with that as they will. But if you’re going to give them your name, it darn well better be the right name.”
Once you tell the officer your name, Gilliam said, the police will verify your identity and age through either their own database or through university records. If you are underage and have been drinking, take the MIP. Do not dig yourself in deeper by trying to pass yourself off as someone else, no matter how well you think you know their information.
Do not give the officer a false ID. If you have a false ID in your wallet, refuse to present physical identification. You have nothing to gain by complying, and the odds are good that you might hand them the wrong one.
“They seem to have X-ray vision,” Koleszar said. “You’re flipping through your wallet and they’ll say ‘Oh, what’s that?’ and they’ve got you.”
Koleszar recommended that you not present physical identification, regardless of your age or sobriety.
Gilliam said that police will generally not hassle you on the street unless you give them a reason.
“We try to focus on behavior and not so much the fact that people have been drinking,” Gilliam said. “We don’t want fights. We don’t want people urinating in other people’s yards — screaming in the dark and all that other stuff.”
“The cops are in the alleys. They’re everywhere,” Koleszar said, describing police presence in the University neighborhood on a Friday or Saturday night. “They see a group of five people on the street, and they’re going to stop them. I see groups or people walking around, maybe they’ve had something to drink, maybe they’re over age, maybe they’re underage. I don’t know. I see them and I say, pardon the pun, ‘Man, you’re sitting ducks.’”
One of the most common triggers for citations is an open container.
“We see a lot of young people walking around on Friday and Saturday nights with beer bottles in their hands,” Gilliam said.
An open container can be any vessel without a factory seal. Bota bags, flasks, re-corked wine bottles and partial bottles of liquor all qualify, although enforcement of this law is discretionary.
“If you’re overage and you get cited for alcohol, you’re not paying attention,” Beutler said. “There’s no reason to walk around with an open beer. Make sure you have a backpack with you. Don’t think you can just put beer in your pocket and then put your finger down in the bottle because what’s going to happen is when you remove your finger, it’s going to spray beer all over you. I speak from experience.”
There is absolutely no excuse for driving drunk under any circumstances. If you are a woman, you can take advantage of Saferide. Otherwise, there is the Designated Driver Shuttle available to men and women. Both service are free to students. Take advantage of them. While a drunk swaggering down the sidewalk can be cute, that same drunk behind the wheel is deadly serious.
Be aware that you can also be cited for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) while on a bicycle. This is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $565.
When it comes to parties, smaller gatherings are generally safe, but if you host a rager with an open front door, live music and alcohol for sale, you’re opening yourself up to a world of hurt.
“I think you’re nuts if you have a party in [the University] neighborhood,” Koleszar said.
In most instances, a neighbor’s complaint initiates the police response.
“Parties that are overflowing beyond the capacity of the house are going to attract attention, and if you’re at one of those parties, you can believe that at some point during the night, the cops are going to come,” said Sgt. Gilliam.
If a patrol officer spots a large party, but no one has complained, they will actually seek out grumpy neighbors, according to Gilliam. He explained that the police “don’t want to be the only people testifying. We want a neighbor to say ‘Yeah, I was offended by it.’”
You must keep your neighbors on your side. Contact them ahead of time and notify them of your plans. Give out your phone number and tell them to call you first if there is a problem. If they do call, take it seriously. Most importantly, invite them. If they feel included, they will be much more amicable and less likely to ring up the fuzz.
In addition to issuing citations, the police have the power to seize “evidence” of noise violations, such as stereos, speakers, instruments, tuners and just about anything else. This property is held
in the evidence locker until the case is resolved, which could be months.
“It’s not done all that often,” said Gilliam. “It’s discretionary with the officer and most of the time, it’s based on repeated calls back to the same address.”
Keep as low of a profile as possible. Keep doors and windows closed to mute the noise. Designate a smoking area such as the backyard or a room to avoid a mob of people hanging out in front of the house. Turn off porch lights. Keep the alcohol out of the line of sight of the front door. Beutler suggested that you “put blankets over the windows. If the cops can’t see anything, then there’s no probable cause.”
As much as you might want, do not get a keg.
“It’s an engraved invitation to the police,” Koleszar said, noting that the location of the party must be given when picking it up from the distributor or bar. “If you do buy a keg, don’t be so silly as to lie about where it is going to be or provide false ID to buy it. Bad, bad, bad, bad idea. You might as well jump into quicksand.”
An EPD pamphlet, titled “Partying in Eugene,” suggests that “if your party gets out of control, contact the police. We will come out and assist you in regaining control.”
Gilliam said that if the host calls first, “then our policy is that we will not enforce applicable laws against the host of the party.”
So, one option is to keep a police scanner in the house where it can be heard, such as in the kitchen. If you hear your address, get on the phone immediately and ask for help from the police. When they arrive, greet them with jubilant relief: “Thank goodness you’re here.” Your guests still face MIP citations, but at that point, you have to fall into damage control mode. Announce that the cops are coming and let them fend for themselves.
In order to enter a residence, the police need two things, according to Gilliam.
“We have to have exigent circumstances [reason to believe that an immediate response is necessary] and we have to have probable cause,” he said. “Probable cause means more likely than not, somebody’s committing a crime. That’s not good enough. If we see a minor in possession inside a house through a window, we can’t just rush in and grab the person.”
Koleszar said that her interpretation of when police are allowed to enter a private residence differs from that of the EPD. Eugene police have maintained that a party where alcohol is being served to apparent minors constitutes exigent circumstances, and allows them to enter the premises. Municipal courts generally side with the EPD on this issue.
“There’s not a lot of room to argue that the officers shouldn’t be in there,” Koleszar said. “Don’t debate or banter. Things like ‘I know my rights’ and ‘My father’s a lawyer’ are like fighting words for the Eugene police. They seem to like to punish people for stuff like that.”
Try as best you can to keep other guests from engaging with the officers. It only takes one loose mouth to escalate the situation.
The police will find a reason to enter the house, and they are allowed to do so through force, if necessary. Koleszar recommends that you lock up tight if the police arrive.
“I always recommend that you don’t open the door, and get away from the door because it could come flying back at you,” she said.
Koleszar said that police will prefer to enter in a way as to imply the consent of the residents. If the door is open, front or back, they will walk in. They can later claim that it was an “open party” and that they felt free to come in. They can attempt to coerce a guest into inviting them in, through either threats or offers of leniency. They can force their way through the door when it is opened to allow a guest to leave. A door hanging off the hinges trumps all claims of consent.
“It eliminates that ‘yes he did/no I didn’t’ kind of argument, which the officer will generally win in court,” she said.
This won’t get you off the hook, but it will force the police to justify the need for the forced entry, which could play in your favor.
So, there you are: locked in a smoke-filled house with blankets over the windows and the music off, waiting for the cops to bust down your door. Some party.
“I’ve heard stories about some of the younger officers and the things that they did in their youth and before they got out of college,” Koleszar said. “Now they’re out there enforcing the rules that certainly some of them broke. I’m not suggesting that because they got away with it, they should let someone else get away with it. I would just hope that they could recall their youth and keep things in perspective.”
Gilliam, when asked the age at which he had his first taste of beer, said “Aw, man. I don’t want to answer that question. You’re putting me on the spot.”
Gilliam also said that there is a high degree of alcohol abuse among many police departments, but said that he has arrested too many people for DUII and seen too many fatalities involving alcohol while on the job.
“Let’s just say that I no longer drink.”