As local authorities come up with plans to address house parties, they’re looking to Fort Collins, Colo., as an example.
House-party registration started in Fort Collins in the spring of 2009, and officials said the number of noise complaints filed has decreased by 46 percent since the fall of 2003, said Melissa Emerson of Fort Collins Neighborhood Resources.
The Iowa City police are now considering a similar registry after Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine and University of Iowa interim vice president of Student Services Tom Rocklin attended a webinar at Colorado State. Hargadine thinks the initiative would be a “three-way deal” for police, residents, and students.
In fact, students — fed up with the $1,000 fine and required noise workshop for a disturbing-the-peace ticket — proposed the idea of a formal warning program at Colorado State.
“Our students love it, and there is a very high success rate,” Emerson said, noting that a 2009 survey showed 97 percent of students said they would register a party. “Residents are happy with the speed, and police don’t have to send officers to houses — it saves time.”
It also cuts down on citations per registered party. Over a six-week period this spring, 98 parties resulted in 13 noise complaints and only two citations written.
With the program, students and residents who register their party will receive a courtesy call from police to quiet down within 20 minutes. If there are no further complaints, no police officers are dispatched to the location — but if there are, police are authorized to write tickets to both the party organizer and partiers.
House-party registry is not mandatory; it was designed primarily to give the party organizers a chance to calm their parties down before police intervention.
“This is not some crackpot plan the Police Department cooked up — this was created by students,” Hargadine said. “When we say we won’t [shut down registered parties without a courtesy call] there is an integrity factor there, and it will not be violated.”
Even with Hargadine’s word, however, some students remain skeptical.
UI junior Caitlyn Szkarlat said it would make her “way too nervous” and she would probably never register a party with the police.
And the program would only protect the host from a disorderly house ticket, not from any citations resulting from underage drinking at the party.
That makes UI junior Madeline Nelson uncomfortable.
“It’s not like you can ID everyone coming in your door,” she said.
Other students think that party registration sounds reasonable.
“It seems like a free pass for a house party,” said UI sophomore Nate Black. “Of course there’s always that risk that the police will use the information to find parties, but it’s not like they don’t already know where the parties are. It has potential.”