As part of its effort to step up law enforcement in neighborhoods around Tufts, the Somerville Police Department arrested two Tufts students early Sunday morning.
According to the police report, juniors Nathan Cleveland and Ciaran O'Donovan were stopped by two police officers while walking with open cans of Natural Light Beer on Curtis Avenue.
The police officers were sitting in an unmarked car on Curtis Avenue when the students passed. The officers took the beers and arrested the students at 12:26 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 25.
Cleveland, 20, and O'Donovan, 21, were released on bail soon after they were taken to the police station. They were due in Somerville City Court Monday morning. Neither student could be reached for comment.
"Somerville police are cracking down," Somerville Police Chief Robert Bradley said, "until we get peace and tranquility up there."
The department allotted additional officers to the Tufts area in response to increasing complaints from residents, Somerville Police Lieutenant Paul Upton said.
Nearly all of the complaints are related to Tufts students. "They are exhibiting very rowdy, drunken, disorderly behavior in the neighborhoods," Upton said.
Patrols have been increased on weekends. "Whenever we have a problem, we dedicate more resources to that area," Upton said. "Right now, this is where the problems are."
Upton could not release details of the new deployments.
The Somerville Police Department has received numerous calls and e-mails from neighbors of Tufts students living off campus. One neighbor on Curtis Avenue waited until the fifth straight night of all-night parties to contact the police.
"This isn't just 'I'm so drunk I don't know what I'm doing,'" the e-mail said. "This is inflicting rage on inanimate objects, causing destruction, and loving it."
The neighbor reported students urinating in public, throwing dishes, and setting furniture on fire in the street.
"Most cops don't want to arrest people for this stuff," Upton said. While someone is being arrested, there is one less police car patrolling the neighborhood. The number of complaints forced the department to step up arrests, though.
Bradley said students living off-campus are lucky when they are reported to the Tufts University Police Department. "Tufts police are a lot nicer than we're going to be," he said.
The increased enforcement comes as Somerville and TUPD prepare for national crime prevention month in October.
TUPD will post displays around campus and increase publicity of its services. Most of the department's crime reports are for personal property theft, such as laptop computers.
