DUI checkpoints steady despite off-campus party concerns

Police and campus officials are concerned about fraternity shuttles to off-campus parties, but they don't plan to increase driving-under-the-influence checkpoints at this time.

Patrol Sgt. Eric Beatty said he had discussed the concern of fraternity shuttle drivers taking underage students to off-campus parties with Daniel Fabian, associate dean of Richmond College and Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, and they decided that because there had been no increase in reported DUIs this year, there would be no reason to increase checkpoints.

"We haven't seen an increase of drinking and driving first semester, but we're definitely looking out for it, particularly Wednesday through Saturday nights," Beatty said.

Campus police are currently concerned with fraternity shuttles and off-campus commuters this semester, he said.

The biggest importance with checkpoints is what Beatty calls "high visibility enforcement."

"This means being out there so the public sees you," he said. "That's what it's all about. It's for show."

Campus police conducted the last sobriety checkpoint on Dec. 2, 2010, between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on River Road at College Road. Within the three-hour checkpoint, 451 cars were checked, Beatty said. The law enforcement effort produced 48 arrests, 16 of which had been made by campus police, according to the UR police report.

Arrests had been made for various violations, including no inspection, no operator's license in possession, expired registration, DUI defective equipment refusal, failure to notify of address change and failure to wear a seat belt, according to the UR police report.

One DUI arrest had been made and it was a community member, Beatty said. That person refused to blow into the breathalyzer.

"The checkpoints typically run for three hours, sometimes in different locations," Beatty said. "Because students have phones, word travels fast, so we have to switch it up."

There are seven locations approved for checkpoints: College Road at University Drive, College Road at Lakewood Drive, College Road at River Road, Boatwright Drive at Campus Drive, Boatwright Drive at Three Chopt Road, Campus Drive at Gateway Road and UR Drive at the roundabout, according to the UR police report.

Beatty said that the police department followed a systematic protocol if they arrested someone at a checkpoint. If someone gets arrested on campus, the campus police take the person to the Henrico County or Richmond City Jail, Beatty said.

From August through November, three on-campus arrests were made on the charge of DUI and two of those arrests were not at a checkpoint, police Capt. Beth Simonds said. Of the three arrests, two were Richmond students and one was a non-community member, she said.

The police department and the dean's office are well aware of the issue of students driving off campus to fraternity parties, Beatty said. On Feb. 3, there will be a saturation patrol consisting of four officers, he said.

"The saturation patrol is not a checkpoint, but officers will drive around running radar and keeping a lookout for people crossing stop signs," Beatty said.

Beatty said that the campus police were taking different measures to check for drunk drivers.

"We have DUI patrols Friday and Saturday nights, who are looking for impaired drivers," Beatty said. "Two or three officers are set up for high visibility enforcement, so students see us and know were looking for drunk drivers."

Simonds said that DUI checkpoints were effective, but there would be no need for more checkpoints each semester.

"We don't want to do it so that it's such an inconvenience to drivers that people are getting stopped all the time," Simonds said. "We want to run the program in such a way that it is not inconvenient for citizens, but also effective in managing DUIs around campus."

In regards to students getting DUI charges and other violations off campus, Simonds said that the university police department had not policed neighborhoods in Henrico Country.

"We work collaboratively with Henrico in all kinds of crimes that include students getting in trouble off campus," Simonds said. "We will work with those jurisdictions, but responses to those off-campus houses are really local responses."

Bisese said that the big issue during the last couple years had not necessarily been DUIs, but students shuttling too many people, specifically underage students, to off-campus parties.

"I don't think people realize that shuttling for parties is a risk to your future," Bisese said. "If you have people who have too much to drink in your car, you're assuming liability that you wouldn't have when driving someone to the mall."

There have been an increased number of contacts from off-campus alcohol-related issues, but that does not necessarily mean that students are driving drunk on campus, he said.

Bisese said that the school officials had not noticed DUIs being above or below the annual trends. It was important to have periodic checkpoints, but because there has been no dramatic increase in DUI charges on campus, there is no need for more, he said.

"I think that DUI checkpoints serve a purpose and people know if they drink and drive, there is a little or strong possibility that they could run into the checkpoints," said junior Matt Baureis. "I think that living off campus plays a huge role in drinking and driving."

Sophomore Jack Hayden said that he had noticed a strong correlation between off-campus living and drinking and driving.

"If students living off campus come on campus for a party, there is no way for them to get back," Hayden said. "People resort to having a few beers and then driving back home."

Off-campus fraternity parties are not as much of an issue as students commuting from off campus because of fraternity shuttle drivers, Hayden said. But some people do get impatient because shuttle rides can be scarce, so they end up driving anyway, he said.

"If there were more checkpoints, the word would get out and the threat would prevent a lot of drinking and driving," Hayden said. "A DUI can ruin your life, and I think the threat of a checkpoint alone scares people."

The DUI checkpoints are a good education lesson for those students who drink and drive, Fabian said.

"We haven't seen an increase in DUIs," Fabian said. "But, the only time we become aware of it, is when there is a problem and it is reported to the dean's office."

If the dean's office gets a report of students who have gotten in trouble at a house party off campus, the dean's office calls the students in and gives them a warning, Bisese said. In Fall 2010, there were 172 cases, involving 214 men, that the Richmond College dean's office saw involving alcohol or other drugs, according to the dean's office report. There was a 4 percent increase in the number of students the dean's office saw last year, according to the report.

"I'm not there to arrest students," Beatty said. "I'm there to make sure they're safe on the road and not going to injure themselves or somebody else."

Contact reporter Rachael Specter at rachael.specter@richmond.edu