MassCops - Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network, A Mass Police Web Portal

Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops

Pages: 1

Main Page Police: Teen drinking 'peaking'
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: DANIPD

Published: 07/13/2007
Police: Teen drinking 'peaking'
By Dan Atkinson
Staff Writer

NEWBURYPORT - It's been three years since Newburyporters galvanized behind a pledge to show "zero tolerance" for teen drinking, but it hasn't stopped a spate of occurrences this summer.
Last week, 25 teenagers were brought to the police station and released to their parents after partying at the Summit Drive home of former Mayor Mary Anne Clancy, a zero-tolerance proponent, who was not present. Police found a "large, large amount of alcohol," said City Marshal Thomas Howard. No adults were home at the time, and Clancy's 20-year-old son was summonsed to court for hosting the party.
After the Newburyport prom in June, 29 high school students were charged with underage drinking in Salem, N.H., after a raid on a house party.

Teen drinking in Newburyport appears to be "peaking" this summer, Howard said. He said awareness programs about teen drinking have done what they can and police need to crack down on underage drinkers.
"I think we've done plenty of awareness, but kids tend to want to go out and drink - it's enforcement now," Howard said.
But enforcement seems to be in short supply, said Mary Zinck, whose daughter Trista was killed by a drunken teen driver in early 2003. Trista, 16, was walking home on Ferry Road with her boyfriend, Neil Bornstein, when they were struck by a truck driven by William White. White was sentenced to 31/2 years in jail.
At a meeting at the high school to discuss Senior Week activities, Zinck said, "It was made very clear to parents" that the school would follow a zero-tolerance policy for students caught drinking. However, the school did not punish anyone involved in the Salem party or other parties that were held during the week, Zinck said.
"I was disappointed in the punishment not given to anyone in high school," Zinck said. "To have numerous things occur but not have anything happen to the kids ... what kind of message does that send to them? They'll go do it again." In a June interview with the Daily News, Dean of Students Tim McCarron said the Salem party was not school-related, which was a factor in determining whether the students who attended could walk at graduation, he said.
Zinck was especially disappointed to learn a recipient of the Trista Zinck Memorial Scholarship was arrested at the Salem, N.H., party. She is changing the scholarship's language to require recipients to stay alcohol-free or lose the scholarship.

"We were told that if anything happens, students would not participate," Zinck said. "But they did participate."
Zinck said her son was invited to parties during Senior Week but did not go and also chose not to go to the party last week. Zinck said she was proud of her son, but understood the pressure he faced.
"He made a choice based on what he felt was right, good for him," she said. "Peer pressure is tough. We all do stupid things when we're young, and you try and raise your kids to not be as stupid as you were."
Summonses vs. arrests
Of the more than two dozen students at the Summit Drive party, only the host was issued a summons, for underage possession of alcohol and keeping a disorderly house - the latter a charge commonly lodged against the host of underaged parties.
In Massachusetts, a summons is considered to be a step below an arrest. Arrested people are typically handcuffed, brought to the police station, booked, fingerprinted and held in a cell. When a person is summonsed, he or she is sent notification in the mail that he or she must appear in court to face charges.
Howard said only one officer was able to respond to the party at first and that it was "impossible" for him to control the scene. Partygoers blocked the door and would not let the officer in, Howard said, and other teenagers ran away. When other officers arrived and established order, it was impossible to tell who had or had not been drinking, he said.
And though some underage partygoers appeared drunk, that was not justification for legal action, Howard said.
"Signs of intoxication are not reason for arrest," he said.
Instead, police brought the teenagers back to the station, where their parents were called.
Howard said sometimes parental notification is the best response.
"The best defense is your parents meeting you face to face late at night," Howard said. "You know someone cares about you."
In Salem, N.H., where the Newburyport students were issued summonses for underage drinking, Deputy police Chief William Ganley said the department decided to change its policy after seeing many underage drinkers repeatedly. Police officers used to return kids to their parents, but they were catching some kids as soon as a week later.
"The message was not getting out there," Ganley said. "We turned around and said let's have zero tolerance on this. We'll charge everybody, and they'll go to court."

According to police logs, Newburyport officers have only given summonses to underage drinkers so far this year instead of arresting them. Howard said he leaves it up to officers to determine whether to issue summonses or make arrests and that "a number of things" about the situation determine whether a summons or arrest is needed.
Salisbury police Chief David L'Esperance said his supervising officers have the same discretion and that a summons may be better than an arrest.
"You might want to give them a bit of a break, straighten them out," L'Esperance said. "Sometimes if you know the person, if it's a local youth, you may go with a summons ... you know where they live."
But people hosting parties deserve harsher punishment, Howard said. Courts often allow young first-time offenders to go through a juvenile diversion program, which requires them to complete community service hours but removes the charges from their criminal records.
While determining whether a defendant should enter a diversion program is up to a judge, Howard said he would never recommend it for hosts of underage drinking.
"We will never support diversion for anyone who holds an underage house party, or that sort of thing," Howard said.
Task force
Trista Zinck's death spurred community outrage and was a factor in then-Mayor Clancy's decision to form and co-chair a task force to deal with teen substance abuse in 2004. The committee recommended that Newburyport take a "zero tolerance" stand against teen substance abuse.
The policy includes provisions, such as severely punishing students caught drinking or using drugs at school events, educating students about alcohol and drugs, and working with police to stop teen drinking and drug abuse.
Clancy did not return phone calls regarding the party that police said they broke up at her home. She was out of state on vacation at the time of the incident.
In 2005, the task force evolved into the BEACON Coalition, said Youth Services Director Andrea Egmont. The coalition has organized events like May's Sticker Shock campaign, which pasted warnings about buying alcohol for minors at local liquor stores. The group is now working on a community-needs assessment, Egmont said.
"We're collecting data to determine where our energy will best go," she said. "We'll have a strategic planning meeting in September to re-evaluate our goals and objectives."

The coalition wants teenagers to have "more assets and less bad behavior," Egmont said, and is trying to have youths organize programs and activities for other teens.
Mary Zinck said teenagers suffer from a dearth of activities in town, which contributes to their drinking.
"As long as parents don't keep them busy doing other things, they're going to drink," Zinck said. "They do it because they're bored."
But even with more things to do, teenagers will continue to drink illicitly, Zinck said.
"It seems like a losing battle," she said.

Posted by: kttref

I've got to say, I am so sick of pinching drunk kids. Whether it be at a party for possession or providing, or driving drunk...I just don't understand how parents just ignore it. Especially when we run into one kid two or three times. Then the parents attack us, because, clearly, it is our fault their kid got caught. It's just unbelievable to me.

Posted by: kwflatbed

If I have said it once I've said it a hundred times.

Spare the rod and spoil the child does not work.

Lets turn the clock back a few generations to when
parents had rights and were not afraid to use them.

Thats why my grandkids and great grandkids respect me
but have no respect for their parents grandpa makes them
behave.

I have heard I will call the cops more than once and I hand
them the phone.

Posted by: KozmoKramer

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed

Lets turn the clock back a few generations to when
parents had rights and were not afraid to use them.

Amen to that man... If I ever used the "I'll call the cops" on my father, I wouldn't need the cops, I'd need an ambulance with an on-board proctologist to remove his foot from my ass....

Posted by: kttref

haha my parents used to threaten to call the cops on me when i came home drunk...needless to say...i learned my lesson.

but i have to reiterate...if you're under 21, don't walk down the damn street with a 30 pack...please...i don't want to do the damn report.

Posted by: screamineagle

I never had to worry about the cops bringing me home drunk. It was when they left and my dad took over that my problems began!!!

Posted by: Hutch

Quote:

Originally Posted by kttref

haha my parents used to threaten to call the cops on me when i came home drunk...needless to say...i learned my lesson.

but i have to reiterate...if you're under 21, don't walk down the damn street with a 30 pack...please...i don't want to do the damn report.

When I was 16 I walked out of a Paki in town with a 30 rack. Right when I opened my trunk an officer drives by and I guess he noticed who it was! I tried leaving the 30 next to the car when he pulled around the back of the store and getting in it like I had no idea who's it was... Yea, great idea! Spent the entire weekend locked up at the DSS type place in Lawrence (I'm from N.Andover and my parents were trying to teach me a lesson.) What a dumb move that was. Lost my fake ID too!

ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops

About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.

The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.

The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.

MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)

3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108