Everyone wants to have a good time tailgating before Tiger football games, but not everyone can enjoy the experience in the same way.While snatching kegs and confiscating cases of beer, campus police issued 13 summons for minors in possession of alcohol before and during Saturday’s game, according to Maj. Helen Haire, LSU Police Department spokesman.Though Haire said the number of summons issued Saturday was not an outrageous number for a home game, it caused a stir among students returning to the spirit of tailgating.”We’re always concerned with underage drinking because of the risks associated with it, and we’re going to continue to enforce it,” Haire said.Haire said at least one keg was confiscated from tailgaters during the game. She said at least one or two are taken away from underage drinkers every game.Some tailgating students said they noticed an increased police presence on campus.”I don’t know if it’s because I never looked for them, but I never realized how many police there were,” said Michael Pizzolato, psychology freshman.John Browing, general studies freshman, said he didn’t notice an increased police presence. He said he saw some LSUPD officers, but he didn’t see them bothering anyone.LSUPD patrolled alongside other local agencies such as the Baton Rouge Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, state police and Juvenile Underage Drinking Enforcement.These agencies combined issued the 13 summons. Haire said issuing 13 summons is a moderately high amount of MIPs for a single game. She compared the number to only two MIPs issued during the first home game against Appalachian State last season. “There is really no way to predict how many MIPs we’ll issue on any given day,” Haire said.Haire said 19 MIPs were issued during a single game last year, and another game had none, though she was unsure of which games.Haire said there may have been more MIPs Saturday than the start of last season because of the timing of the different games.”The Appalachian State game was a very early kickoff,” Haire said. “That probably had something to do with it because people were out there longer on Saturday.”More mobile LSUPD bike patrols were out in force Saturday, though the number of patrol officers was not increased.Haire said LSUPD also received several calls from other tailgaters alerting them to underage drinkers. Haire said the process of handing out MIPs is as simple as a patrol officer walking up to tailgaters and asking for identification.—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]
Game day brings 13 MIPs
September 14, 2009