Brookings Police warn students of house party consequences

The 2016-17 school year started with several parties, and the Brookings Police Department hopes the number of parties will decrease as the year continues. 

Chief of Police Jeff Miller has been with the Brookings Police Department 30 years, and the severity of the party scene fluctuates yearly.

“We’re too early in the year to characterise how this year is going to be,” Miller said. 

However, he said there have been several large parties since school started on Aug. 22.

“I hope that is not the trend for the rest of the year,” Miller said.

Throughout his time in Brookings, he has noticed incidents go up dramatically when students return to Brookings and continue through fair weather.

The procedure for dealing with a house party, according to Miller, is to give a warning if the party is not out of control. If the party is disturbing others in the area, a citation can be given for disturbing the peace. He warns that if there is a “large, out-of-hand” party, how to handle the situation up to the officer’s discretion.

Addie Borah, assistant director for student activities, has had to directly handle out of control parties near her home in Brookings.

Several years ago, she lived near a group of college students that hosted frequent parties. Her family experienced garbage and bottles in their yard, people driving through their yard, individuals urinating on her front step and the parties creating a lot of noise.

She said she has not experienced any issues for several years.

“It’s been great the last couple of years,” Borah said. “We’ve all been students before. We get it.”

Following the incidents, Borah and her family reported the situation to the police, and recently they installed a fence around their home. The fence has acted as a physical barrier as well as a sound barrier.

Borah said her past neighbors were being “inconsiderate,” and it wasn’t significant that they happened to be students.

“(They were) individuals that were being inconsiderate who just happened to be students,” she said.

The main hope Miller has for students is to learn while they attend SDSU.

“We want students to come here to learn and get their education so they can go off and enjoy their life and have a career rather than have a criminal record that could really impact it,” Miller said.

Bobbie Till, fifth year senior animal science major, agreed with Miller.

“It is important to remember that school is priority number one while at college,” she said.

But she also has sympathy for students

“It’s a college town,” Till said. “(House parties are) kind of expected.”

As Miller looks to the future, he both anticipates and dreads Hobo Day on Oct. 22. He said after Hobo Day the number of parties starts to decrease.

“I always look forward to Hobo Day,” Miller said, “and for it to be over.”