The Somerville and Tufts University Police Departments (TUPD) are teaming up in a collaborative effort to crack down on off-campus noise and alcohol violations.
Two Tufts and two Somerville police officers will be working in teams on weekend nights to "contain rowdy behavior," according to Captain Paul Upton of the Somerville Police Department (SPD), who called the new effort a "cooperative venture."
The new effort began within the last two weeks, when SPD officials asked for a meeting with Tufts University and TUPD officials to address annual residential complaints about off-campus parties.
According to Tufts Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel, the SPD told Tufts that its officers would attempt this year to prevent the behavior that leads to complaints from residents.
"They wanted to tell us that they were planning on having more visibility in the neighborhood as a preventative measure to advise and educate any students who were out and about to not get in any trouble," Rubel said.
"The TUPD offered to work with them, and [the police departments] are trying to act together," she added.
TUPD and Medford Police Department officials were unavailable for comment over the holiday weekend.
Upton said that a flood of complaints comes into the SPD when students return to campus every fall.
"As soon as we return from the summer, we are inundated by complaints from Somerville residents," Upton said. "This year, we're trying to be more proactive, as opposed to reactive."
The SPD attempted a crackdown on off-campus noise and alcohol violations last fall as well, when during parties Tufts students threw furniture off balconies and lit mattresses on fire, as reported in the Daily and the Boston Herald.
"Last year it was a very bad experience, and that's part of why we did this," said Upton, who worked as a patrolman in Somerville's Wards Six and Seven, which border Tufts University. "In certain cases, residents asked students to quiet down and were told to 'go home before they got hurt.' That can't happen ... We're trying to draw the line very early [this year]."
The new joint effort was put to the test this weekend. As Tufts students returned to campus, many were angry about the increased off-campus police presence. Upperclassmen are particularly upset over what they feel is the latest effort to curtail the social life at Tufts.
Maria Sternfeld (21), a Tufts senior, is a resident of a house on College Ave. that hosted one of the parties broken up by Somerville Police officers on Friday night. She did not take issue with the party being broken up, she said, but rather the treatment of students by Somerville Police.
"I felt like it was completely inappropriate the way they were speaking to us," Sternfeld said. "We felt violated with the way that they infiltrated our house ... We were trying to handle it calmly and responsibly, but they were so rude to us. I literally felt violated."
Sternfeld said that the next night, she had another run-in with Somerville Police officers when attending a Packard Ave. party that was also broken up. She said that police officers were so brusque in dispersing students from the house that she found the developing situation dangerous.
"They were encouraging students to get away as fast as possible, and some were getting into cars," Sternfeld said. "It's absurd that what they were doing was encouraging drunk driving."
Eli Cohn (21) was given a citation for drinking in public near Packard Ave. on Friday night. He says that the police officers, who were from both the TUPD and SPD, berated him.
"They said that people around there were just trying to live their lives and called us 'selfish college students,'" Cohn said.
"If you want to break up a party, fine, break it up," Sternfeld added. "But we're college students. Don't talk to us like infants."
Upton said that officers have several options when dealing with students violating the law, and that the SPD is working with the TUPD "on a case-by-case basis to find the best remedies."
In the mildest cases, officers advise and warn the students, but no further action is taken. In other scenarios, the incident is referred to the Dean of Students' office.
Officers can also give the students a city ordinance violation or a fine of up to $300. In more severe cases, Upton says that a criminal complaint can be sought on a variety of allegations, including "keeping a disorderly house," if the offender is throwing a disruptive party, "being a disorderly person," if the offender is being disruptive in public, or possession of alcohol by a minor, if a student under the age of 21 is caught drinking.
"The last option is arrest," Upton said. "It's the least favorable, but at times it's the only one on the table."
Sternfeld and her housemates received only a warning and were told that subsequent violations would result in a citation and a fine. Cohn had to give his social security number and other identifying information to the officers on the scene and was told that he'd be receiving a letter and would have to meet with a dean.
Upton defends the policy and residents who call to complain about loud parties.
"On Friday, Saturday and Sunday night there were over 20 late-night party complaints made from 12 to 5 a.m. in residential neighborhoods," Upton said. "That just can't happen. There are people with real jobs, children and elderly people living there.
"To the benefit of the residents, no one is calling until after midnight," Upton continued. "At a couple of locations, there were over 100 people on the street partying. You just can't do that."
Upton also emphasized that responding to complaints about parties takes up valuable time from the department's crime-fighting efforts.
"To be honest, there isn't a Somerville police officer here interested in doing anything to make college life unenjoyable," Upton said. "The problem is that these calls become very time-consuming, and officers that are doing this can't do other things. It's shameful to think that there could be an officer not at a call where there's a sick child or a pedestrian hit ... There are real things that go on in the city."
Although the increased effort by the SPD and TUPD is unrelated to the recent fraternity closures, some upperclassmen feel that the circumstances are making social lives impossible.
"I'm just wondering where the administration and police department think students should be partying if not at fraternities and off-campus parties," Cohn said in a reference to the recent fraternity suspensions on campus. "Do they just expect kids not to drink?"
