14 adults arrested for underaged drinking

Otto Maddox wrote: Some of my friends' kids were arrested at this party. The basic story - A bunch of college kids were having a party, inside the house, in the yard, around their cars, etc. A cop shows up and decides he is going to arrest everyone (I don't know if he was provoked or is just a jackass). Chaos ensues. In said chaos with the cop apparently standing in the middle of all the leaving cars yelling at them to stop, he gets grazed by a mirror or something. And this results in an 18 year old college girl sitting in jail with some really serious charges against her. Your thoughts? I am biased but trying to ignore that, I think the idea of trying to arrest a small crowd of 18-20 year olds for drinking is stupid.

When one of your friends gets killed or kills somebody in a car accident because the police didn't stop them, then who is at fault.

When you're a cop and cars are peeling out around you and driving past what should you do? Curl into a ball and cry? His job is to maintain law and keep peace.

I think your idea of "stupid" is severely flawed.

In reply to carguy123:

There are 40 year olds that don't have the mindset to handle an overload of alcohol, yet theres no issue with giving an 18 year old an automatic weapon and tell him to kill bad guys.

N Sperlo wrote: When one of your friends gets killed or kills somebody in a car accident because the police didn't stop them, then who is at fault.

That person? The one that hurt someone?

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: When one of your friends gets killed or kills somebody in a car accident because the police didn't stop them, then who is at fault.

That person? The one that hurt someone?

If I'm the cop who decided the drunk kid was OK to drive, I feel it is my fault. The judge would say so too.

I do agree the drinking age should be 18. That doesn't mean I wouldn't arrest a drunk 19 year old because thought now the drinking age is 21.

I recall being at college parties when I was over 21 and having to make sure I was the first person to talk to the cops while all the underagers in ear shot PUT DOWN their drinks and calmly walked away. I even recall seeing the law coming up the drive on a few occasions and taking a drink out of a under age friend's hand so it was now MY drink. I guess it is all in how you play it. I am sorry this incident turned into such a cluster, but that is the risk that I took and any under age drinker takes when they decide to drink in a semi public place, knowing it is illegal, whether you agree or not.

N Sperlo wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: When one of your friends gets killed or kills somebody in a car accident because the police didn't stop them, then who is at fault.

That person? The one that hurt someone?

If I'm the cop who decided the drunk kid was OK to drive, I feel it is my fault. The judge would say so too.

See the point is... you should arrest him for DUI, and you should not have been bothering him before he drove because it wasnt your job. You, as a cop, should not have to be put in a position where you are pestering adults for something they are doing that is not disrupting the peace. Unfortunately - we live in a nanny state that can't seem to see that.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

Then your problem is with the law, not the police. It is their discretion which laws to enforce and if that fails (ending in a major incident) it is their ass.

And it is the officers job. Literally.

The OP says there was a Noise complaint hence distrupting the Peace..

Personally I'm of the opinion that if you break the law, agree with it or not, you should be subject to the consequences of that action. If your dumb enough to be breaking the law and call the attention of the Police to your actions by being loud/disruptive to neigbors then don't be surprised when you get the book thrown at you for what your doing. If you wanted to avoid getting in trouble for your actions... Don't do them. If you think drinking underage is an acceptable risk, you must accept the consequences of that which include being arrested/fined when you are caught. And don't hit cops with your car.. Even lightly.

N Sperlo hit it right on the head, with one caveat: the police are not supposed to 'interpret' or decide which laws to enforce and which ones not to enforce. That's why you can get a ticket for 2mph over the speed limit (and yes a buddy of mine got one for 37 in a 35).

Sure they do it anyway. But any half assed lawyer could mop the floor with any incident involving injuries or property damage stemming from underage drinking or for that matter any other law 'winked' at by the police. So any time a police officer uses 'discretion' he/she is literally playing roulette with their future.

RossD wrote: How does Europe deal with drinking and age.? Most places don't have an age limit over there? Do they have more drinking related incidences and problems or less? The drinking and driving is always a big no-no in my book.

Pretty sure the public transit system is a little better there, too, i.e. it exists. Easier to get home wasted when you can hop on a bus or subway anywhere and get to within walking distance of your bed.

And also, the drinking age in this country is way high. Totally stupid.

Under most laws, young people are recognized as adults at age 18. But emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25. Guest host Tony Cox discusses the research and its implications with Sandra Aamodt, neuroscientist and co-author of the book Welcome to Your Child's Brain.

If people reached full maturity at 25 the interweb would be a lot less entertaining.

In reply to Johnboyjjb:

Full maturity shouldn't be the issue. The issue should be "mature enough." I think 18 is a good age. We have veterans coming home this month that can't drink. Thats not right.

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Then your problem is with the law, not the police.

Absolutely.

My problem is that I think all laws that dictate personal responsibility or morality are wrong. Not only do they presume to tell us how to live our lives they add taboo to things that would otherwise just be normalized like guns, drinking, etc.

I grew up in a responsible world. Guns on the porch - in case of animals or in prep for going hunting... etc. No seatbelt or helmet laws. No getting arrested for putting the kids in the back of the pick-up unless you killed one. 18 was the legal drinking age in PA but there wasn't any serious enforcement unless someone called because of noise. My folks were tee-totalers but my friends had wine with dinner when they were kids. My grandfather used whiskey (rock -n- rye) to help my cough. Things were not worse than they are now. The worst drunks were the ones who weren't allowed to. The girls that got pregnant were the Catholics. If you got caught playing with grandpas unloaded shotgun you got a lesson in how to check it and clean it not a criminal record.

I really do not see the point of all these laws. Perhaps I am just getting old but I do not see any improvement from being coddled by my government and I would like to try a little more freedom in the land of the free.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

I don't disagree with you at all on that front. I enforce stupid laws and rules for a living. If I don't, I go broke. Same goes for police.

My point is that what the cop did was akin to yelling "fire" in a theater. If you want to catch drunk drivers, set up a check point going out of the neighborhood. His approach to enforcing the law was stupid. And yeah, the law is stupid too.

If you want to wait until people are mature enough for stuff, change the legal age to get married to around 35.

Otto Maddox wrote: My point is that what the cop did was akin to yelling "fire" in a theater. If you want to catch drunk drivers, set up a check point going out of the neighborhood. His approach to enforcing the law was stupid. And yeah, the law is stupid too.

I don't think he was out to catch drunk drivers. Sounds like he was out to quiet some kids down, they got rowdy, he attempted to take control and they got real stupid.

A likely senario IMHO.

If they have to come and get you, you'll catch hell. If you cause harm to one of them in the process of your stupidity, you deserve everything you get.

I'm guessing this was local law enforcement and not the campus police? It sounds to me like he's not used to dealing with dumb, drunk college kids. I do take issue with the cop because he judged the situation poorly. Adjustments have to be made to police discretion in accordance to the type of people you're dealing with, why, and where.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: When one of your friends gets killed or kills somebody in a car accident because the police didn't stop them, then who is at fault.

That person? The one that hurt someone?

no way in hell is it that persons fault....

not now, in this country, with the current mindset of .... "it's always someone else's fault"

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Then your problem is with the law, not the police.

Absolutely. My problem is that I think all laws that dictate personal responsibility or morality are wrong. Not only do they presume to tell us how to live our lives they add taboo to things that would otherwise just be normalized like guns, drinking, etc. I grew up in a responsible world. Guns on the porch - in case of animals or in prep for going hunting... etc. No seatbelt or helmet laws. No getting arrested for putting the kids in the back of the pick-up unless you killed one. 18 was the legal drinking age in PA but there wasn't any serious enforcement unless someone called because of noise. My folks were tee-totalers but my friends had wine with dinner when they were kids. My grandfather used whiskey (rock -n- rye) to help my cough. Things were not worse than they are now. The worst drunks were the ones who weren't allowed to. The girls that got pregnant were the Catholics. If you got caught playing with grandpas unloaded shotgun you got a lesson in how to check it and clean it not a criminal record. I really do not see the point of all these laws. Perhaps I am just getting old but I do not see any improvement from being coddled by my government and I would like to try a little more freedom in the land of the free.

Thank you!!!

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Johnboyjjb: Full maturity shouldn't be the issue. The issue should be "mature enough." I think 18 is a good age. We have veterans coming home this month that can't drink. Thats not right.

I happen to think you're correct... but that doesn't matter ... at all ... the law is still what it is .. if everyone feels that it should be changed then get it changed , but 'till then break it at your own risk...

this from someone who could legally drink at age 18.. yeah I'm old

As an update, apparently the girl's car hit the cops hand at low speed as he was apparently trying to wave her down. He required no medical attention.

Otto Maddox wrote: As an update, apparently the girl's car hit the cops hand at low speed as he was apparently trying to wave her down. He required no medical attention.

Hopefully the assault charges will be dropped, but a minimum of minor in possession by consumption while driving which means no drivers license for some time. Its up to the judge though. I still think she deserves what she gets. She made a bad decision. She's over 18. She should have been smarter.

My stance on drinking age/underage drinking, etc:

First, lower the drinking age to 18. That would cut down some of the taboo aspects of it, reducing binge drinking.

Second, put in laws that would reduce the stupidity our nation has for alcohol.
Say, for someone between the ages of 16-18, if their BAC is .04 or less (roughly 2 drinks in an hour for a 150# person) the penalty would be a $25 dollar ticket. Between .04 and .08, make it a $50 ticket. Over .08, make it a $300 ticket. If any of them are behind the wheel, throw the entire book at them.

In reply to N Sperlo:

I think she'd be estatic with some reduced charges and community service at this point.