About three months after the State College Police Department began a program targeting underage drinking and those who provide alcohol to minors, Sgt. Dana Leonard said he thinks the number of citations for underage drinking and furnishing alcohol to minors has dramatically increased.
The State College Police Department formed the Source Investigation Project (SIP) in January after the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board gave the department an $80,000 grant to start the 18-month pilot program.
Leonard said he has not yet compared the number of citations issued for underage drinking and furnishing alcohol to minors since the creation of SIP to the number issued before the initiative began. He said he plans to do so in the coming weeks.
However, Leonard said tracking citation rates is not the primary goal of SIP.
"We're not going to gauge the success of the program by how many people we charge," Leonard said. "We're not looking to dramatically increase citation rates. We want to change perceptions and behaviors."
Though the number of citations issued may not be rising, the increased attention on the issue means many students are curious about what they should do if they are cited for underage drinking or furnishing alcohol to minors.
Underage drinking is a summary offense in Pennsylvania, District Justice Jonathan Grine said. A crime is either categorized as a summary offense, a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on its severity.
When a person is cited for a summary offense, such as underage drinking, the case goes to a local district justice's office. District justices deal with summary offenses in hearings that are more informal than court proceedings for misdemeanors and felonies.
Grine said he contacts people who have been cited for underage drinking to discuss their options. A person can plead guilty, plead not guilty or request to enter the Youthful Offenders Program (YOP) if the citation is the person's first offense.
If a person pleads guilty to the citation, he or she must pay a $225 fine for a first offense or $300 for subsequent offenses. He or she must also pay court costs, which are slightly more than $100.
Grine said he is also required to inform the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) about underage drinking citations. For first-time offenders, PennDOT suspends a person's driver's license for three months. For a subsequent offense, the suspension is one year.
People who have been cited for underage drinking for the first time can enter YOP. Under this program, a person who has been cited must agree to attend 15 hours of classroom instruction. In State College, the Community Help Center provides this instruction. The cost of the program is $175.
People entering YOP do not have to pay the $225 fine for underage drinking, but they do have to pay court costs of about $100. Those enrolled in YOP also face the same license suspension penalties as those who plead guilty.
When a person enters YOP, the charges against him or her are dismissed. A record of the citation is kept on file in the district justice's office for seven years, and it is then cleared. Those who plead not guilty to an underage drinking citation have a hearing before a district justice.
Unlike underage drinking, furnishing alcohol to minors is a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania.
After a person is cited for furnishing, he or she is sent a summons in the mail to appear in court for a preliminary hearing. Those charged with furnishing can either plead guilty or not guilty. There is no YOP for this charge.
Centre County Probation and Parole Department office supervisor Debbie Reed said a furnishing conviction carries a $1,000 fine for first-time offenders and $2,500 for subsequent offenses. A person convicted for furnishing is placed on probation for up to a year, and there is a $300 supervision fee for the probation period. A person convicted must also pay about $200 in court fees.
The money from the fines for underage drinking goes into the State College Borough's general fund, said Mike Groff, who is the finance supervisor for the borough. He said money from the general fund supports general operations for State College.
The money from the fines for furnishing alcohol to minors goes to Centre County, Reed said.
Students cited for underage drinking or furnishing alcohol to minors also face action by Penn State's Office of Judicial Affairs. Because of Penn State's off-campus misconduct policy, the State College Police Department informs the university when students are charged downtown.
Director of Judicial Affairs Joseph Puzycki said his office decides on a case-by-case basis whether to take disciplinary action against a student charged for underage drinking.
Puzycki said that typically, Judicial Affairs sends a letter to a student who has been cited for a first offense. He said second or multiple offenders must appear before Judicial Affairs, and the student will either be given a warning or sanctioned. This sanction may include mandatory participation in the Alcohol Intervention Program (AIP).
Similar to the YOP, AIP involves class attendance and counseling, Puzycki said. Those who have already enrolled in the YOP through the borough will not also be required to participate in AIP, Puzycki said. The cost of this program is about $75.
