TIGER TV ONLINE REPORTER
During the 2008 football season the average number of minor in possession (MIP) tickets given to students on game day was eight to ten. At our last home game, the ULL game, there were 71 MIPs given out.
However there were no more police on duty than usual. So was there just a spike in the amount of underage drinkers?
According to Captain Russell Rogue of the LSU Police Department, police noticed more students drinking before this game than usual and received more complaints than usual about students. He attributes this to the fact that we were playing an in state team.
It also was not a sell-out game so more students were able to purchase tickets. A lot of students from ULL came down to tailgate and for the game so overall there were more underage people on campus than usual.
Rogue said that enforcement on underage drinking has always been strict.
“If officers are patrolling on campus and get complaints or see what appears to be underage drinkers, they will respond and should be checking these incidents out. If officers contact underage drinking they usually issue citations,” Rogue said.
Although enforcement is always strict, Rogue said, when drinking begins early in the day it makes police aware of the issue the rest of the day and they look harder for underage drinking after receiving complaints.
Rogue said police tend to patrol areas that are prone to complaints about drinking and fighting than other areas. These areas include public parking areas, public tailgating areas and areas with high walking traffic.
If a student receives an MIP they are given a fine of $100 or up to six months in jail or both. They receive a court date and on that date the district attorney will determine the punishment. MIPs are not progressive offenses so the consequences do not change the more times a person receives one.
Rogue hopes that this high amount of MIPs will not be a trend for the rest of the season and will be exclusive to the ULL game.
“To be honest, we can’t explain why certain crimes or violations occur when or as often as they do,” Rogue said.
