Amherst police ready for influx

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on September 05, 2008

AMHERST - With the return of students to this college town, Amherst police say they are ready to deal with an anticipated increase in calls and arrests that often mark the beginning of an academic year.

Freshmen arrived at the University of Massachusetts Sunday. Other students will return today and classes start Tuesday. Students have already arrived at Amherst and Hampshire colleges.

Amherst police Capt. Scott Livingstone said the department intends to have additional police officers on duty during the coming weekends to deal with well-known problem areas, crack down on underage drinkers and enforce the town's noise, open container and keg bylaws.

"We are meeting with the night lieutenants to see how strong we want to go in the first and second weekend," said Livingstone, the department's supervisor of operations.

Livingstone said these night lieutenants, including Robert O'Connor, see first hand where problems develop and the type of direction that needs to be taken by the department to combat them.

While police cruisers are used to monitor some locations, Livingstone said he would like to incorporate bicycle patrols and plainclothes officers in other enforcement actions.

Typically, the department sees a large increase in activity during the first two weekends in September. Over the last three years, the number of calls, as compared to the two preceding weekends, has increased by an average of 62 percent, according to department statistics. And the number of arrests more than quadruples over this same time frame.

In 2007, for instance, the number of calls in the last two weekends of August, and including the first September weekend the students returned, was 228. The following two weekends police responded to a total of 386 calls, a 69 percent increase. Arrests during this same span jumped from 26 to 111.

Livingstone said part of the need to make arrests is to educate and remind the students, especially freshmen, about illegal behavior, a point they may not understand immediately.

"They pay attention when you throw handcuffs on them," Livingstone said.

Livingstone endorses problem-oriented policing, which relies on the public to assist in determining what areas to target with patrols. For instance, he pointed out that it was wise for Sunset Avenue residents to speak to the Select Board recently about a fraternity on the street that has created issues, including noise and trash.

But new rental properties can become an ongoing problem. Until police are notified and made aware of these homes, neighborhoods may be impacted.

<strong>Education</strong>

Education will also be a key component of police activity in September. Capt. Michael Kent said the department is already meeting with all fraternities to go over municipal bylaws. All fraternities associated with UMass are located off campus and fall under the local police jurisdiction.

Kent, the department's administrative captain, said he is talking with university officials this week in what is dubbed the "smooth-opening meeting."

"There's a great amount of dialogue and communication leading to the opening," Kent said.

One thing that Kent said could help to minimize trouble this fall is a new social host bylaw, or nuisance house bylaw, that was approved by Town Meeting last spring. With expected approval from the state Attorney General's Office, this bylaw can be used to enforce problem houses by not only making arrests, but also issuing fines to residents and possibly landlords, too, if they fail to move forward with eviction proceedings.

The bylaw covers issues such as noise that might affect a neighborhood, as well as trash associated with these homes and people loitering in the street.

"We're going on the theory of an immediate impact by hitting them in the pocketbook," Kent said.

The bylaw, which has also been approved by the town of Hadley, was created through the Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking.

UMass officials, Kent said, are educating their students about this bylaw, while a local landlord's organization will notify landlords of the new rule.

Although police will step up enforcement during the first few weeks of the school year, Kent and Livingstone both said the department must stretch its resources out for the entire year.

"We don't have an unlimited overtime budget," Livingstone said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.