Department of Public Safety officer Lisa Larkin is used to rowdy football games. During patrols, she’s found drunken hecklers can easily be deflated by a simple “yeah, that’s original” rebuttal to their antics.
Inappropriate behavior at football games, however, is decreasing, according to Larkin.
At Saturday’s game against Stanford, local law enforcement groups and DPS ejected 68 fans. That number is down from the 76 ejections DPS made without assistance during the game against UCLA on Oct. 11.
Officer Larkin was on patrol Saturday and said the game’s overall atmosphere was “a little calmer.”
“I think there are two reasons why things are getting better,” Larkin said. “First off, the rain. Second, this is the first year DPS has been highly involved at the games. People are starting to notice that we’re there and that’s curbing inappropriate behavior.”
Most incidents at games are alcohol-related, Larkin said. She said there were at least two alcohol poisonings from last Saturday’s game, one of which involved a middle-aged spectator.
“It’s not always students,” she explained. “Non-students are just as big of a problem. It’s just embarrassing to deal with a 40-year-old who’s too intoxicated to take care of himself.”
The University encourages fans who can legally drink at games to act sensibly and not forget they can be ejected, according to a University Office of Communication’s press release.
University freshman Henry Corelle also attended the game and agrees with Larkin about the atmosphere in the stands.
“I thought it was calmer since there were fewer students there,” he said. “Or maybe the rain cooled some people off.”
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