Sounds from parties echoed in the distance, but a two-story house deep in the West University neighborhood was quiet on a Saturday night two weeks ago. From the yard of the house, near the corner of East 14th Avenue and Ferry Street, everything looked relatively still. No one loitered on the porch.
Shortly before midnight a couple partygoers exited the house carrying open cans of beer. It was enough to prompt a visit from the Eugene Police Department Party Patrol.
Students, especially those who frequent parties in the West University neighborhood, are likely to encounter the party patrol, which circulates the area on Friday and Saturday nights. However, many may not know how to respond when they come in contact with these officers.
On that particular Saturday, Oct. 23, several students cited for drinking violations voiced concern about whether their rights were being
violated. Some wanted to know whether police officers could enter their houses. Others were curious about whether officers could deny them a breath analysis, relying instead on a field sobriety test to determine who had been drinking.
On slow nights, EPD officers are more likely to cite every minor drinking at a party, said Sgt. Scott Fellman, one of the party patrol’s supervisors. On busier nights, the officers may just disperse partygoers, then head out to respond to other noisecomplaints.
For every five students cited to appear in court for violations, such as underage drinking and DUI, at least one may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, “erroneously charged or grossly overcharged for
deminimis conduct,” attorney Laura Fine said in a guest commentary for the Emerald (“How to deal with cops at UO,” ODE, Sept. 20, 2004).
Fellman said
breaking up parties and citing underage drinkers are necessary to prevent more serious problems.
“The point is to break up disorderly parties before they become riotous,” Fellman said. “The cost for letting parties get out of hand and turn into riots is serious.”
The six- to eight-person team typically focuses on alcohol and drug violations, issuing citations for underage drinking and for drinking in public. At house parties, hosts might incur charges for furnishing, allowing consumption or selling alcohol to minors. If police respond to parties at one address multiple times during a 90-day period, the residents might face a fee for the cost of EPD’s response.
The party patrol has been an on-again, off-again presence at EPD. It became a more permanent fixture following a chain of student riots in 2002 and 2003.
In 2002, former EPD Interim Chief Thad Buchanan estimated the patrol cost taxpayers $6,000 to $10,000 per weekend, according to Emerald archives. In the same year, city officials estimated that a riot in the West University neighborhood cost EPD upwards of $20,000.
The party patrol operates at about $4,400 in overtime costs on a typical weekend, EPD spokeswoman Kerry Delf said. Weekends with big events, such as Halloween, cost the city about $17,000 in overtime costs for focused patrols, she said.
The party patrol issued citations to most of the 20 to 25 guests at the house near East 14th Avenue and Ferry Street on Saturday, said University sophomore Adam Caccavano, one of the party’s hosts. He said he and his roommates had tried to keep their party quiet but were busted when EPD caught a few guests leaving the party with open cans of beer.
He and a roommate were cited for possessing alcohol and for furnishing it to minors after deliberating for more than 30 minutes about whether to let the officers inside. In the end, they gave their permission, but he still wonders whether he had to.
“In terms of letting us know our rights, they could have been more forthcoming,” Caccavano said, noting the patrol’s supervisor later responded to some of his questions. “Regardless, we were still guilty. It is their job.”
ASUO Legal Services Director Ilona Koleszar said the officers could enter as long as they had probable cause and a reason to believe evidence would be destroyed within the time it would take to obtain a warrant.
“I think that in past years, the habit of the police has been to cite them all and let the courts sort it out,” Koleszar said. “I’m hoping under the new police chief there will be less of that.”
Officers busted one more party by 3 a.m. They issued more citations for underage drinking, using a test tracking eye movements, which are affected by the presence of alcohol, to determine who had been drinking.
University student Ryan Sapper said officers denied his request for a breathalyzer, which he felt would be more accurate than the eye test, and didn’t feel officers were listening to his concerns.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said that night. “It’s ridiculous. They told me to leave.”
Koleszar said officers aren’t required to use a breathalyzer to test for violations such as MIPs.
Fellman said officers have limited time to respond to parties; they want to disperse the crowd as quickly as possible, but they also want people to wait for their rides to go home.
“The bottom line is that we want people to be safe and to follow the rules,” Fellman said. “Unfortunately, it takes enforcement action for that to happen in a lot of cases.”
Koleszar recommended that minors avoid huge parties with loud music and kegs, but said to err on the side of caution when dealing with police and to be as courteous as possible.
Fellman said it also helps to have a good sense of humor. He spent much of his time at the second party joking with the residents inside the house.
Sometimes partygoers’ anger toward police escalates to violence. In the past, people have hurled beer bottles and rocks at the officers. Others have slashed tires and broken windows on their vehicles.
“There’s a disturbing number of people out there who think it’s OK to hurt a police officer,” Fellman said. “But we’re just doing our job. Unfortunately, sometimes that is the nature of the business.”
Ready to head out to one of four other parties near campus, the officers sauntered away from the second house and toward their vehicles.
The tailpipe of Fellman’s unmarked Ford Crown Victoria had been stuffed with damp leaves. The other officers laughed as they checked their own cars.
“At least it’s not a 20-pound rock through my window like last time,” one officer said.
“Look on the bright side — at least it’s not fecal matter,” another officer joked.
But a few faces fell when the officers noticed their cars, two of which were slumped to the side, sitting on cushions of deflated rubber.

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