The Eau Claire Police Department cited more than 111 UW-Eau Claire students for underage drinking during the weekend, with overall ticket fines reaching close to $30,000.
Exact figures have not yet been determined, said Community Relations Officer Jack Corey, but the bulk of those citations came from two house parties at 833 Chippewa St. and 604 Niagara St.
According to police reports, the Eau Claire Police Department issued 80 citations and one criminal arrest for resisting an officer at 833 Chippewa St., as well as cited 31 people at 604 Niagara St.
“Obviously, our goal is to get the party to stop and take care of the host,” said Brad Venaas, the deputy chief of patrol. “It’s illegal behavior, and it’s unsafe behavior, and it’s certainly been a big community issue.”
Most of the renters – except those not around for the parties – received two citations each, one for selling alcohol without a license and the other for providing alcohol to minors. Each citation cost $435.
Both house parties were discovered by an undercover police officer dressed in normal college clothes. The officers at both parties each bought a cup and called for other officers to surround
the area.
“They secured all the exits, and then the undercover cop came down and revealed himself,” said junior and 833 Chippewa St. resident Tony Hyland. “Normally cops tell people to leave, but this time, they locked it down.”
The residents of 604 Niagara all declined to comment on the details of their house party.
House party busts of this nature, while not as common in Eau Claire, have occurred across the state. On Jan. 29, seven UW-Madison students received about 154 tickets after Madison police raided their house party because of noise complaints, according to an article in the Wisconsin State Journal.
The tickets, which were for various offenses such as selling alcohol without a permit, serving alcohol to minors and for underage drinking, totaled $73,500.
Madison police officer Mike Hanson said usually when police bust a large house party and issue heavy fines, they don’t have any trouble with that house for the rest of the school year.
“(The violators) have that fine amount hanging over their head for the rest of the semester,” Hanson said. “Enforcement combined with education are the best tools to combat this.”
Venaas and Miller agreed that police staffing on the weekends is the major factor that allows them to stop house parties and issue citations at an increased level. As long as the police are well staffed, Venaas said, these types of busts could be more common. The Eau Claire Police Department has 99 sworn officers.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to do it more often,” he said. “We just have to work with what we have.”
While enforcement will play an important role in reducing high-risk drinking, other changes need to occur for it to be effective, such as an environmental change, said Jodi Thesing-Ritter, associate dean of Student Development and Diversity.
“Due to the recent number of deaths in the river … I think our community wants both high school and college students to be safe,” she said. “The environment needs to change.”
Junior and 833 Chippewa St. resident Nick Johnson said this type of enforcement not only will prevent parties at his house, but will severely impact Eau Claire’s party scene.
“It’s going to die off a lot,” he said. “If there’s (a) party like this getting busted every single weekend, people are going to just stop taking the risk.”
