Police: Student drinking intensifies
College officials say problem no wrse than usual.
Toolbox
By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: September 16, 2009
CASTLETON — Police say they are dealing with more alcohol-related problems at the start of the college semester.
Just weeks into classes at Castleton State College, Castleton Police Officer Cheri McDermott said she has responded to a variety of alcohol-related complaints involving dozens of college students.
"I think it has been a bigger problem than I've ever seen in my four years here," McDermott said Tuesday. "It takes up way too much of our time."
The dean of students at the college disagrees with that assessment and even McDermott's boss, Police Chief Bruce Sherwin, said alcohol use among college students had contributed to no more problems this year than in previous ones.
But after spending much of her weekend dealing with back-to-back parties that resulted in criminal charges for five Castleton students, McDermott said she was frustrated by prevailing attitudes that allowed some college students to flaunt the law.
On Friday evening, McDermott was the first of many police from several agencies to arrive at 69 Crystal Meadows Road to break up a party attended by more than 100 people.
Police were called to the address by neighbors complaining about cars blocking driveways along the road.
McDermott said she called for help from state police as well as police in Fair Haven and a Poultney constable to help break up the party and check the ages of those in attendance. She said a number of underage drinking violations were issued along with court citations for enabling that were issued to five Castleton State College students who were tenants at the address. A misdemeanor enabling charge is applicable in cases where a person has sold or furnished alcohol to a person younger than 21. It carries a minimum fine of $500 and a possible prison sentence of up to two years.
Enabling citations were issued to Edward Konaski, 22; Joseph Albanese, 19; Christopher Nichols, 20; Tyler Mills, 18; and Ira Tillberg, 20.
It took police, who had to acquire a search warrant to enter the house, more than five hours to break up the party, McDermott said.
But the effects of the raid were short-lived, she said.
"The same people were all at a party on Elm Street on Saturday night," she said. "They were back at it the very next day. They don't care. It's like you're a babysitter for some of these college kids. They have no respect for anybody."
Nor was this weekend unusual, she said. During the final weekend of August, McDermott said she was called to a home on Main Street where a drunken 20-year-old college student had passed out confusing the residence for his college dorm.
"Even after we woke him up he didn't know where he was. That's how drunk he was," she said.
But while McDermott's frustrations were obvious, Sherwin said the frequency of alcohol-related incidents was no greater. What is different, the chief said, is that his department has decided to publicize its response to alcohol-related incidents more frequently.
"I think we want to let residents in the town know that we are addressing these problems," he said. "Even though we've addressed these problems just the same in the past, we didn't always release information about them."
That said, the problem hasn't gone unnoticed by residents living around the college who last year asked the Select Board to pass a local ordinance prohibiting open containers of alcohol in public places.
But Town Manager Charles Jacien said the board decided that the laws already on the books were sufficient and less prone to impinge on the civil liberties of others.
"The board reviewed the option and decided it was not a road to go down," Jacien said.
On the college's campus, Dean of Students Dennis Proulx said he was unaware of the off-campus problems reported by the police — problems he said he would like to hear about from police more often.
Disciplining students who abuse alcohol on campus, where the school serves as the students' landlords, is easier than dealing with students who get into trouble off-campus, he said.
But in cases where students' behavior makes them bad neighbors, Proulx said the school can level disciplinary probations against offenders.
"We expect our students to act as good neighbors," he said.
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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