By now most of you have heard about the party on North Brooks Street that was busted by the police and received thousands of dollars in fines. For those of you who haven't here is a little background:
Former MTV ""College Life"" participant Kevin Tracy and his roommates, Mitchell Klatt and Travis Ludy, threw a party at their house on North Brooks Street. Like a lot of parties, it got out of control as the number of people reached somewhere near two hundred. Most of whom were crammed into the basement or spilling into the street, according to WMTV-NBC.
According to the incident report, police officers came to the door and the residents of the home were not cooperative with police officers. This led to more than 130 counts including: dispensing alcohol without a permit, providing alcohol to minors, and encouraging underage alcohol consumption. Two of the residents are also under legal drinking age, and each of them has also been cited for underage possession. These citations add up to around $20,000 per person, totaling near $86,000.
These citations may seem outrageous, but the fact is the law is the law. If you break it then you run the risk of getting caught and you must pay the consequences. It doesn't matter if everyone else is doing it, everyone runs the same risk when they break the law. If a lot of people are stealing things, then is it outrageous if you get caught and arrested while others may go free? Of course it isn't. Don't get me wrong, I too enjoy going to parties and throwing them myself, but you have to be aware of the risk, control the crowd and cooperate with authorities.
What the officers did was not irrational, either. Some of the residents believe that they were singled out as an example to others. Which is just not true. The officers were simply doing their jobs—they concluded that the party was a safety concern, leading them to issue citations as the law dictates. Parties tend to have the increased risk of sexual or physical assault, not to mention the inherent risks with binge drinking. The house party was in violation of the law on a variety of levels. Plus, it was a safety issue and the officers did the right thing.
The situation for the residents sucks and I would definitely not want to be in their shoes, but that is why you have to take precautions so you don't get caught in the first place. For those of you who want to throw a party, I wouldn't let this story deter you.
It is very easy to avoid tickets like the ones these guys received. For starters, don't let people hang out in front of your house. This is what draws police in initially and just screams ""Hey, here's a party!""Also, if the police do happen to come to the door, don't be stupid and try to hide like these guys did. Go to the door and talk to them, they will more than likely just tell you to start ushering people out.
Actually, I don't feel any sympathy for the residents at all. They broke the law and they got caught—that's all there really is to it. Maybe if they had cooperated with the police, they wouldn't be in this predicament. Fortunately for them, the fines will most likely be reduced since smaller house parties that have been busted often getthe fines reduced. The same thing will most likely happen with this house. Hopefully the $86,000 will be reduced to something more affordable for three college kids.
Nick Fritz is a sophomore majoring in marketing. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
