State Patty’s Day 2012 saw fewer criminal arrests, calls for service and ordinance violations than the previous year, according to a report released by the State College Borough Friday.
The figures were included in the State College Borough's State Patty’s Day After Action Report 2012, which looked at the event's impact on police, businesses and residents.
According to the report, 399 calls were made to State College Police this year between noon on Feb. 25 and noon on Feb. 27 -- which represents a decline of about 17 percent from the 480 calls seen during State Patty’s Day 2011. Police made 222 criminal arrests this year, down about 5 percent from the 234 arrests made in 2011, according to the report.
Underage drinking was the most common offense, accounting for 52 of violations, according to the report. Also during the 2012 event, there were 37 open container violations, 24 loud noise/yelling violations, 21 public urination violations, 17 public drunkenness violations, 14 drunk driving violations, 15 criminal mischief violations and 11 violations for scattering rubbish, according to the report. Fourteen of those people also needed to be transported to Mount Nittany Medical Center for alcohol overdose, according to the report.
Police were asked to document what college or university each person arrested attended, regardless of the arresting police agency. Of all the arrests made that night, 154 were students from other schools, 132 were Penn State students and seven were residents.
The Centre County Emergency Communications Center also received significantly fewer calls than at State Patty’s Day 2011. The CCECC received 922 calls for service, compared to 1,599 in 2011 and 1,360 in 2010, according to the report.
After all the increased money spent parking enforcement and police services, the borough reported a net loss to its general fund of $7,658. With all the increased revenue from parking though, the Borough’s Parking Fund saw a net increase of $16,069.
Police calls from liquor license establishments were also down significantly. Seven calls were made to police, according to the report, where 36 were made from these establishments in 2011.
Police said in the report they credit establishments that sell liquor closing early as a contributing factor to the lower number of police calls. Many liquor license establishments chose to close early or not open at all on Saturday and all four liquor stores in the Centre Region closed at 6 p.m. instead of the usually 9 p.m., according to the release.
The self-imposed sanctions of the Interfraternity Council were also cited as reasons for the lower crime numbers, according to the release. The IFC restricted large functions, hard liquor, guest list functions and live entertainment for State Patty’s Day weekend.
The report also cited the expansion of Community Volunteer Day, a volunteer event created during State Patty’s Day 2011 to provide a sober downtown presence, as another factor in the activity levels seen this year.
