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South Bend Tribune photo (October 13, 2012) |
The Indiana excise police crackdown on underage drinking at college campuses continues – On Saturday 11 tailgaters at the Notre Dame home game against Stanford were arrested.
Officers from the Indiana Excise Police are targeting Ball State, Indiana State, Notre Dame, Purdue, Butler and Indiana universities this fall as part of the Intensified College Enforcement program, or ICE. The goal: to "essentially change behavior," said Cpl. Travis Thickstun, spokesman for the excise police.
Police say they're optimistic that ICE will help curb underage drinking. Previously this year, they made a record 110 arrests at the Sept. 14 IU-Ball State game and issued 99 citations at the Sept. 22 Notre Dame-Michigan matchup.
But they will need to collect several years of data to compare before they'll know how effective the program is.
The reasons for concern are clear. A 2008 study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that about 90 percent of alcohol consumption by those under the age of 21 occurred during binge drinking. About 1,700 college students died last year from excessive drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Additional information provided by the Associated Press
