It's obviously not practical to put together an ad hoc force of cops from various departments, even assuming that their departments felt they could lend the cops without sacrificing the security of their own jurisdictions. You'd have cops following different rules, and that would be even worse than the status quo.
BLUE LOT DRINKING TICKET
- Thread starter SF88
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It's obviously not practical to put together an ad hoc force of cops from various departments, even assuming that their departments felt they could lend the cops without sacrificing the security of their own jurisdictions. You'd have cops following different rules, and that would be even worse than the status quo.
It's far from conclusive, but there has been a lot written here about one particular deputy from MCSD. The descriptions are all extremely similar. And in the same lot, I think.
So yeah, I'm making an assumption. There would need to be some photos or badge number-taking.
How about having RuPd watching the lots. Use these guys if needed for stadium security.
I rather doubt RUPD has the personnel to handle the lots in addition to normal duties, and I would think that managing people crossing campus would be enough a strain.
The Cops were patrolling the Yellow Lot yesterday like Storm Troopers.
It’s absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for. This will go a long way in helping rebuilding our declining fan base.
This is the only entertaining part of the day for most folks vs. the performance inside the Stadium
It’s absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for. This will go a long way in helping rebuilding our declining fan base.
This is the only entertaining part of the day for most folks vs. the performance inside the Stadium
Actually, Piscataway has a sizable force (sorry, don't recall the numbers off the top of my head) and they do work the games. I don't know if they can fully supplant the MCSD but based on my experience and Mrs Screw's photo/post, a lot of this may be caused by that one overly zealous (IMO) MCSD guy that I mentioned and Mrs Screw suggested was the "writer." Discretion is the key here, again in my opinion. With respect to Hobbs and the formal University stance, I don't expect them to formally condone underage drinking but I think guidance toward using reasonable discretion would go a long way.
But as 4real stated, between the various different PD organizations involved, there are probably enough to eliminate MCSD, if a more surgical elimination of the one bad egg (if my assumption is true) cannot be accomplished.
I think getting rid of the bad cop, along with some quiet communication, would work wonders towards the goal of having the patrols during tailgates be about safety and considerateness towards tailgating neighbors and not about hassling kids with their families.
devils advocate position.
the girl was 19..... at what age should the cop be concerned, if we think this is ok with the mom?.....how about 16?...should a cop ignore a 16 year old drinking with a mom? do the cops allow mom to carry the day there also?....if someone thinks 16 would be too young, then it becomes tough to defend the 19 year old, since both are underage
the point in a post above, about the girl maybe getting in trouble later on in the day, a car accident, doing something unlawful and stupid, is a possibility, even if everything looks calm as the cop cards the group.
it could come back and get the cop in trouble for not enforcing the law.
young people are not allowed to drink by law because the law figures they are not mature enough at an age under 21.
it is a tough thing.... I drank in a fraternity house setting when I was underage, but if I were to have gotten a ticket because of that, I would not be all outraged because I would know I broke the law and technically deserved it.
the girl was 19..... at what age should the cop be concerned, if we think this is ok with the mom?.....how about 16?...should a cop ignore a 16 year old drinking with a mom? do the cops allow mom to carry the day there also?....if someone thinks 16 would be too young, then it becomes tough to defend the 19 year old, since both are underage
the point in a post above, about the girl maybe getting in trouble later on in the day, a car accident, doing something unlawful and stupid, is a possibility, even if everything looks calm as the cop cards the group.
it could come back and get the cop in trouble for not enforcing the law.
young people are not allowed to drink by law because the law figures they are not mature enough at an age under 21.
it is a tough thing.... I drank in a fraternity house setting when I was underage, but if I were to have gotten a ticket because of that, I would not be all outraged because I would know I broke the law and technically deserved it.
Must be you.
4real, way up front, and us, towards the back left, never saw any cops at all.
Ya gotta keep the hookers and blow under wraps, so to speak.
You clearly don't know what is going on here.
It IS an "ad hoc force of cops from various departments" already. I've been telling you - and you keep ignoring me - the MCSO does NOT typically have law enforcement duties, at any time. They are NOT some indigenous force. They send officers to the gameday duty assignment - just like Piscataway, Highland Park and New Brunswick currently do.
Have you ever actually been to a game?
If a kid is drinking from a plastic cup, and it's clearly a family tailgate, not a mosh pit of kids, then the cops shouldn't even be checking to see what's in any of the cups. It's not like the cops can check every single plastic cup at a tailgate. There would be no liability except the parent's liability towards their kid(s).
Of course I understand that. This happens in a lot of places. You use rent-a-cops who don't have routine duties as police. You really can't rely exclusively on real cops, because the size of the towns' forces is not going to be enough for there to be enough surplus cops to work events that happen six times a year. No one would hire enough cops to meet that need. Of course the rent-a-cops make stupid mistakes because they're not used to real police work, but RU has to get parking lot security somehow.
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I can agree and disagree..... maybe the police are sent into the tailgates with orders to ticket underage drinking..... on the surface of it, that appears to be an ok thing to do, you see someone breaking a law, and then you apply a penalty
I did make a point that a family could have bad judgement on this...they may let the 19 year olds 16 year old brother also have a beer, and would that be a bad thing for the police to stop?...maybe yes, , maybe no
And, as I've said, they can eliminate the MCSO guys. There are only a handful of them - I'd say maybe 8 to 10 - and they comprise an overstaffing as compared to similar venues. This small group of guys is the entire problem. We can simply make them go away.
Campus and college town cops across the country turn a blind eye to 18-20 year olds drinking. Not on every campus but probably most. As long as things don't get out of hand. Sorry if that offends you.
I kind of like the idea of having the cops prove that there is Alcohol in the red cup. Remember when Radar detectors first came out ? Many states tried to outlaw them and cops were pulling people over left and right. Fuzzbuster gave away tissue boxes that looked just like radar detectors and that ended the cops giving out those tickets. Again this would have to be an organized thing but 500 or 1000 kids walking around with Oduls in Red Solo cups would surely keep the police busy with BS let them arrest a few kids and take them to court.
Never said I was offended.
Why is having a beer or an alcoholic beverage in public so necessary to enjoyment of a tailgate for someone who is not of legal drinking age? Sorry if the question offends you.
I agree with you completely. This is just harassment. Kids are gonna drink. I would much rather see them do it with their mom than with no adults around because of some misguided policing.
Nobody implied that it was necessary. Some will drink and some won't. Bad laws and stupid enforcement aren't going to change that.
I see your point. But I personally have zero problem with a 16 year old drinking beer at a tailgate with his parents, conceptually. I'd get rid of the drinking age altogether and make it illegal to sell alcoholic beverages to anybody under 18.
I'm not a fan of a nanny state. Nor do I think it's okay to ask an 18 to register for the draft but not trust them to drink. Old enough to die for their country. Not old enough to have a beer?
So, as I implied in my original post, if it wasn't necessary, why give your child a drink, knowing that it could result in a summons?
If/when weed becomes legal for consumption in private, are we going to hear similar arguments when underage kids and adults start firing up at their tailgates?
Fully understand the concept of discretion on the part of police officers. Some will use it, some will not. Break the law at your peril and hope the officer who catches you shows some discretion, whatever law you are breaking. But don't whine about it if you get a police officer who is a hard ***.
as a matter of fact one of the MCSD guys I was talking to said RU Saturdays are the only times he wears a uniform. The rest of the week he is in a regular clothes and serving warrants. (this was the non-ticketing guy)
• University regulations and state statutes on drug and alcohol consumption will be strictly enforced
That’s from the stadium website. Deal with it.
Too bad a mother thinks the law doesn’t apply to her precious daughter. Yeah, what a role model for entitlement. Yeah, I’m sure she wouldn’t be drinking unless her mother was there. Yeah, right.
Too bad so many enablers on this board think that the enforcement of the drinking age in the Blue Lot is “discretionary”. Or, that underage drinking is OK because it’s tailgate or that kids at tailgate won’t be driving for a few hours, if at all. Or because it’s unealistic because ALL college students drink (hey, spoiler alert - they don’t). Yeah, you think the adults’ attitude makes the police’s duty more difficult? Not that the enablers care.
My wife or I have had several unfortunate situations around HPSS over the years with wasted students, most clearly underage. We’ve never had a problem with a sober student. Who would have guessed, huh?
That’s from the stadium website. Deal with it.
Too bad a mother thinks the law doesn’t apply to her precious daughter. Yeah, what a role model for entitlement. Yeah, I’m sure she wouldn’t be drinking unless her mother was there. Yeah, right.
Too bad so many enablers on this board think that the enforcement of the drinking age in the Blue Lot is “discretionary”. Or, that underage drinking is OK because it’s tailgate or that kids at tailgate won’t be driving for a few hours, if at all. Or because it’s unealistic because ALL college students drink (hey, spoiler alert - they don’t). Yeah, you think the adults’ attitude makes the police’s duty more difficult? Not that the enablers care.
My wife or I have had several unfortunate situations around HPSS over the years with wasted students, most clearly underage. We’ve never had a problem with a sober student. Who would have guessed, huh?
How many of those wasted students were hanging at a quiet family tailgate?
I know, I know... GET OFF MY LAWN YOU PUNK KIDS!
Says the guy with the Blutarsky avatar.
This is not correct (statement in bold). The 21 drinking age was enacted because the federal government will withhold transportation funds from states unless the law is 21. Before that, many states had an 18 year drinking age, and most would now. I have been LEGALLY going to bars and drinking since I was 18.
Some discretion here would have been more reasonable as opposed to a "make my day approach". A simple warning as it appears this was an ordinary family gathering as opposed to a rowdy group was in order.
I wonder what he does when he is at a neighbor, friend or family event and one of the underage attendees might be having a beer, wine cooler or malt drink. Would he have the balls to ticket etc. I'd be curious to see how this is resolved or handled in court. And I would hope the county sheriff's department has enough common sense to not assign this person to any other events and to deny him the opportunity for some easy found supplemental income. He surely isn't earning it.
I wonder what he does when he is at a neighbor, friend or family event and one of the underage attendees might be having a beer, wine cooler or malt drink. Would he have the balls to ticket etc. I'd be curious to see how this is resolved or handled in court. And I would hope the county sheriff's department has enough common sense to not assign this person to any other events and to deny him the opportunity for some easy found supplemental income. He surely isn't earning it.
Good call, but I’m sure that you remember Bluto’s famous lament — “7 years of college down the drain”.
So, I’ll do the math and figure that Bluto was 24 or 25 years old. Pretty sure he was old enough to have a cold frosty with Mom Blutarsky at the Faber tailgate.
Now, if my avatar was Flounder or Pinto, you’d have a point.
Do you not understand the difference between an officer: (a) being on duty, in uniform, on state property, who has been instructed by his supervisors to address the underage drinking at tailgate, and (b) being off-duty, and a guest at a private function on private property?
Whether it was a rowdy group or an “ordinary family gathering” isn’t mentioned as being a factor in the RU policy or the law.
When I went to the Horseshoe my group couldn't believe how cool it was that all the motorcycle cops had actual DOT approved helmets that were red and gray with the buckeye logo on them.
Well next year the kids will be smoking rope and it will be legal if our Governor Elect has his way!
Stoned!!!
Stoned!!!
I don't know about him, but I finally got a speeding ticket last year. And I totally said I deserved it. Because I totally deserved it. But I wasn't going 72 in a 65 either. I was flying.
If a bunch of kids are getting hammered while blasting music from a PA system, stealing food for neighboring tailgates, and peeing all over the place, then yeah, those kids deserve tickets.
If a kid is hanging with mom and dad and sipping a beer? Not so much.
78...i guess all was perfect for you at the DKE house as an undergrad. We also had parties on college ave where we all know there was much underage drinking and we also got warnings etc. Here we have a person in a controlled environment with parents and some overzealous bozo issues a ticket as opposed to a stern warning and as noted 2/3 other officers did not and perhaps were even embarassed. Look we all know the difference between right and wrong and various drinking laws. Let's kudt say this.....evrrutime hi ou may have neen stopped for sime type of traffic or other violation did you respond ok I am wrong as nd give me a summons etc or did you try to downplay the incident to not receiving a summons. Isn't that general human nature.
Now in this case if there eas some abnormal discussion by both the parents and officer then we do have a problem as nd so far we know nothing about this. Did the officer drink from the cup etc. Hopefully if the parents were cool and responsive I think most will hope this blows up in court and is dismissed as a bad incident.
Now in this case if there eas some abnormal discussion by both the parents and officer then we do have a problem as nd so far we know nothing about this. Did the officer drink from the cup etc. Hopefully if the parents were cool and responsive I think most will hope this blows up in court and is dismissed as a bad incident.
Actually, RU is able to do just that. I'll list the following police/LE agencies, easily identifiable by uniform and/or badges, that I've seen providing assistance for RU football games and their primary functions, if notable:
-New Jersey State Police: general security for RU coaches/team and on sidelines
-FBI and Dept of Homeland Security: I know they provide peripheral security support, but they don't make their presence well-known
-Rutgers University Police Department: general patrol, and traffic control in New Brunswick/Piscataway/at lots
-New Brunswick PD: Traffic control on both sides of Landing Lane Bridge
-Piscataway PD: traffic control at River Road
-Middlesex County Park Rangers: traffic control and security for transport buses in Johnson Park
-Monmouth County Sheriffs: general stadium/facility security
-South Brunswick, North Brunswick, and South Plainfield Police departments: additional personnel for stadijm security and Lot patrol
-Middlesex County Sheriffs: a total of 5-10 officers, whom I've only seen in the Blue Lot and by the alcohol dumpsters on the walk to the stadium, who are ticket-writing machines and have virtually no experience in dealing with the general public on a daily basis. RU could really do without in helping build a fan base through fantastic tailgating while still providing adequate LEO presence on gameday
How about having the kid dump the cup out....tell the parents this is a warning and calling it a day?
The problem is its not a one-off. This is consistently an issue all season. Someone else will have to vouch for if this has been a multi-season issue.
The problem is its not a one-off. This is consistently an issue all season. Someone else will have to vouch for if this has been a multi-season issue.