"possession" of alcohol

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
"possession" of alcohol
6
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 12:30pm

I have recently warned my 18 yo DD that some of the police in neighboring towns have a policy where they are arresting all underage people at a party where drinking is present even if those kids are not drinking themselves. I know that if they are called to a party, it's not possible for the police to know who has been drinking unless they give everyone breathalyzers, which isn't realistic. I think the situation came up because they were called about a party, a lot of people had left, and they got a list of people who had been there, some of them were drinking & some were not. They notified the high school, which couldn't do anything because the party was not held on school grounds, except to the athletes, who were suspended from games. This seems unfair to me since if you don't do any activities, you don't get in any trouble at school.

There has been some discussion in the paper lately about whether this is a good idea. My opinion is that it is not. Yes, I know drinking is illegal and noone should be drinking at all. A lot of the writers have said that this discourages some kids from being the designated driver and then more people will be drinking & driving. I think it also might push some people into drinking who otherwise might not if they are worried about being arrested. If they would like to drink, but are thinking they might get caught, there is not as much reason for them not to drink if they will be arrested anyway.

Of course, when those people are arrested, it is difficult to make the charge stand up if they say they weren't drinking and there's no proof they were, because the normal definition of "possession" doesn't include just being in a house where other people are drinking.

My DD doesn't drink but does have friends who do. I don't know if it's realistic to expect her to leave someone's house everytime someone drinks. I think it's hard enough to be one of the only ones who doesn't drink. Of course I warned her that the louder and wilder the party is, that's when the police are likely to be called, so she shouldn't be hanging around.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 1:00pm

"Of course I warned her that the louder and wilder the party is, that's when the police are likely to be called, so she shouldn't be hanging around."

A couple of summers ago, DD was at a party that the police were called to. She had promised to leave if things got out of hand. She didn't feel they were out of hand so she stayed. You might want to make sure what her idea of loud and wild is.

They really didn't check her out and let her leave. I was furious b/c they didn't know if she had been drinking or not. I don't think that they should all be arrested but I think a nice compromise would be to call all parents and make them come get their child. This way the non-drinkers don't get arrested but the parents don't have the worry that their "buzzed" child is behind the wheel of a car.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-20-2005
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 1:31pm

To tobylady and musiclover...

There is a really easy way to solve this....

Portable breathalyzers. Many towns are now allowing police to carry portable breathalyzers in their vehicles...they get called to a party, and everyone gets tested.

A couple of problems with other ideas...

"Calling all the parents to come pick their kids up." Unforunately, if your child is 18 or over, not only are the police not obligated to do this, but unless your child ASKS them to call you, or your child is arrested and calls you themself, they can't...your child is legally an adult and has the right to ask that parents NOT be called (this is the "grey area" - adult but not legally able to drink).

"Telling daughter to leave if things get out of hand." As tobylady said, sometimes YOUR idea of "out of hand" and your daughter's are two different things. And out of control may be subjective to everyone. I was at a friends' daughter's graduation party last year where the police were called - twice - unnecessarily - because a neighbor was angry they weren't invited.

In fact, any adults at the party can be held liable if underage people are drinking - AND - in some jurisdictions - OVER 18 qualifies as an adult. If your 18 year old DD is at a party where a 16 year old is drinking, whether or not your 18 year old is drinking herself, she can be charged.

Also - in some areas, the owners of the property can be charged even if they're not home.

I tell my son if he's at a party, and there's drinking by underage people, he should call me. he won't - cause he's "18 and can do what he wants." So I've told him if he's arrested because he's at a party and either drinking, or contributing to someone else drinking, he's in jail for the night.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 2:28pm

I know DS2 was at a raided party once. They did indeed use the breathalizer on everyone and he was clean. They made him call and tell me which was weird as he could have called anyone and told them, I suppose-well, as long as that person thought fast on their feet. But essentially the police said 'you call or we call'.

He felt they knew about the party ahead and were prepared-had vans they went in to take their turn with the breathalizer, etc. But this is a university town so we are quite equipped for this sort of thing.......

I would have been furious if he had been taken into custody. This happened shortly after he was caught with his brothers ID in his possession which DID go to court and he was under court supervision because of it. He was scared by the court appearance(yes!!!!)and was on his best behavior-Im sure why he didnt take a drink that day! Had he been hauled in anyway? Yeah, I'd say that would have been counterproductive-why bother to try?

They need to purchase the necessary equipment or call the parents instead of arresting.

Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 2:59pm

Last year when H, dd17 and I went on vaca, we left dd19, then 18, home alone with the dogs - she had school and work and was over 18, and was always very responsible so we figured she'd be fine. She asked me ahead of time if two of her gf's & her bf could sleep over on the Friday night before we returned - again, we said okay and to be careful, don't let anyone know we're not home, etc.

Well those 2 friends told 2 friends who told 2 friends, etc. Before dd knew it there were 20+ kids in our house! Some boys went down to the garage to set up a beer pong table while the others were watching tv upstairs. The stupid kids all parked in the {very narrow} street in front of our house instead of our accomodating driveway and this attracted attention. Sure enough, not 20 minutes in, the police came a knocking. Since dd was the hostess and the oldest, she, along with 9 other kids, did a portable breathalyzer, and were taken into custody by way of following the police cruisers down to the station!! There they were ticketed and released to either a parent or, if they could drive, on their own. DD had not been drinking so she was permitted to drive. The police made them dump out the 16 beers on the lawn at the station and that was the only booze found on premises - 16 beers between ten 17 and 18 year olds! Not even one each. Hahaha -

The tickets were all excused with an agreement to perform 3 days community service in the inner city, which dd did along with the others, all boys incidentally, and it was expunged from her record. It was a learning experience for sure. If dd did not allow the officers to enter our home, nothing would have happened. DD didn't know she was allowed to say no to them when they asked to enter. She also learned not to trust her friends.

Thankfully, she called my close friend to come speak with the police - there had to be an adult over 21 (besides the police) when they were administering the breathalyzers. I think this situation was handled well considering the climate of our town's teen/alcohol problems. I admire the police for treating all the kids with respect instead of completely over reacting like so many do these days. I liked that the police discussed the incident with me in full upon our return. They commented that dd was very helpful, respectful and compliant throughout the entire ordeal. She and her friends were the first kids in our area to be ticketed under the new law! Yippee. I also liked that the police had dd call an adult over, even though technically dd is an adult, ahem. Oh, and the courts also made all the kids write me letters of apology - I only received 3 total!

I personally have very different and strong views about the drinking age, but I don't want to start a debate, so I will just keep quiet for now. lol -

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2003
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 3:53pm

"they got a list of people who had been there" ---- ??????? And just how do they know they have all of the names? And just how do they know they didn't get the wrong names? Very flawed thinking, I'm thinking. Geez.

Sallie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Mon, 03-12-2007 - 6:49pm
About 5 years ago, the police got wind of a high school party in a rock quarry just outside of town, and showed up at about 10:30. They packed up ALL the kids, took them to the station, administered breathalizers, and called everyone's parents, the kids who'd been drinking as well as the ones who hadn't been drinking, and nobody left the station until a parent came to pick them up. That was pretty interesting... all the kids were "the good kids" in school, and many of those kids have parents who have "perfect children" so it's a good thing that the parents needed to pick them up.
Rose