Open container citation numbers galring after first year of UI's 'Think Before You Drink' tailgating campaign

IOWA CITY -- If any conclusion can be drawn after nearly a full season of new tailgating enforcement at the University of Iowa, it's this - don't carry an open container on public streets or sidewalks and make sure you find a portable bathroom when nature calls.

Since the UI implemented its “Think Before You Drink” initiative at the beginning of 2010 football season, open container and public urination violations have accounted for 64 percent of the citations issued during game days.

The campaign announcement came three weeks before the start of the 2010 season, which included a time limit on tailgating after a game ended, an emphasis on citing underage drinkers, adding vehicle safety checkpoints, and having zero tolerance for Iowa City's open container law and public urination in an effort to curb illegal and unsafe tailgating behavior.

Most of the rules were not necessarily new, but the goal behind the initiative was to put an emphasis on fans following already established rules and laws during game days.

Most glaringly, that emphasis has been geared toward open containers and public urination.

Iowa City's open container law prohibits people from carrying open beer, wine and hard lemonades on public sidewalks and roads. Fans are still allowed to have those items in UI parking lots and ramps as long as they are of legal drinking age.

After six home games this season and only one remaining, police have issued a total of 391 open container citations, or 13.5 per game. In the two previous seasons, police issued zero open container citations.

Similarily, 53 public urination citations have been issued this season, or 8.8 per game. In the two years prior, a total of two public urination citations were handed out.

Chuck Green, director of UI police, said he has been very pleased with the results of the initiative this season, adding he believes fan behavior has improved since Iowa kicked off the season against Eastern Illinois.

“We've seen very good results from the overall campaign,” Green said. “We've seen a steady decrease in the issuing of citations from the first home game to the most recent.”

For the most part, Green's statement is correct. After the first game of the season, police cited and arrested 160 people. After the most recent home game on Oct. 30 against Michigan State, police cited and arrested 63 people.

But the numbers have jumped around.

The opening game against Eastern Illinois yielded the highest amount of citations, but coming in at a close second was an Oct. 2 night game against Penn State where 153 people were cited and arrested. But comparing the numbers from Penn State game, which began at 7 p.m., to the Eastern Illinois game, which started at 11 a.m., isn't necessarily a great measuring stick.

The low number from the season came after Ball State came to town on Sept. 25. Only 36 people were cited and arrested, but the 11 a.m. kickoff and rainy weather may have contributed to the low number.

After the opening game, UI officials were met with a slew of negative feedback, as angry fans voiced their concern about police being overzealous in their efforts to put a damper on illegal and unsafe tailgating. There was also an issue with gate entry into Kinnick

Stadium after many fans experienced abnormally long lines as security searched blankets, water bottles and bags.

Steve Droll, 55, who has been tailgating at the same location west of Kinnick Stadium for over 15 years, said the enforcement before the first game created a negative atmosphere that he had never experienced.

“Anytime an authority figure exerts influence on something that hasn't been there before, it will be perceived as too much force,” Droll said. “I didn't feel comfortable being over there, and I don't think that's right for any fan.”

After taking in public feedback, the UI made an announcement confessing they had “made some mistakes.” They promised to create a more fan-friendly environment and quicker access into Kinnick Stadium. The refinements also included the addition of an extra hour - from two to three hours - for postgame tailgating for 11 a.m. kickoffs.

Droll admitted since the first game, the police presence became much less aggressive, especially as the season has progressed.

Green said the changes after the first game did not mean less of a police presence, but they made a point to use better discretion when it came to what was considered dangerous activity.

“When looking in the lots for drinking games, we had to use better discretion as to whether people were consuming large amounts of alcohol and putting themselves in danger,” Green said.

Another significant statistic resulting from the initiative is the amount of in custody arrests where people have been physically taken to jail.

Before the season began, Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said he was worried about the jail overcrowding on game days due to the increased enforcement. But Green said that would not be the case as the UI was to try a new cite-and-release method for people who were cited for public intoxication. If the person in custody could find a family member or friend to take them away safely, they would be released and would have to report to court at a later date.

On the surface, it appears to have worked because this season there has been a total of 53 people taken to jail on game days. In 2009 there was 127 people taken to jail and even more in 2008 at 138.

“I think it's a combination of things,” Green said. “I'm sure the cite-and-release method contributed to the numbers, but the fans have really stepped up to the plate and have been behaving better, which was what we were hoping for.

The increased police presence has not only made an impact on tailgaters, but in surrounding neighborhoods as well.

Kathleen Renquist, who has lived two blocks south of Kinnick Stadium on Tower Court for 30 years, said she believes the added enforcement of the rules this season has had a positive impact on her home and her neighborhood. She said in years past, people would walk through her yard, urinate and vomit in her lawn, and even pass out on occasion. But she said this season there has been almost none of that activity in her neighborhood.

“It's great to have the university stepping up to the plate and being proactive about enforcing these rules. It's just so much more enjoyable on game days now,” Renquist said. “It's a neighborhood again.”

When taking in all of the numbers and feedback from tailgaters and officials, it would not be wrong to conclude the UI's “Think Before You Drink” campaign has made significant strides during its first year in its goal of curbing illegal tailgating activity.

But when looking closer, if open container violations were eliminated from the total number citations issued this season, the total number decreases from 660 to 269. The emphasis on citing the open container law makes some question whether the initiative is really all about safety.

Joe Wegman, 54, has been a faithful tailgater since 1974. He said he is behind the university in its goal for safety, but he feels police have gone overboard when implementing some of the rules this season, adding he has seen police invade peoples' personal space when it was clearly uncalled-for.

“If the mission is safety, I support it 100 percent,” he said. “But this year, for the first time in all of the years I have been coming to games, I felt they crossed the line.”

But when it comes to the open container law, Green stands by the enforcement methods.

“When we can keep people form consuming on streets and sidewalks, there is a far larger and more sober crowd approaching the stadium,” he said. “All we're asking is people wait to get to their destination before they start drinking.”

Football Arrests