Police ‘Beef Up Staffing’ in Preparation for State Patty’s Day

This weekend is the first-annual THAW Festival, but many State College residents might be celebrating a different event this weekend.

State Patty’s Day, the student-created pseudo-holiday drinking event, falls on this Saturday – and community leaders aren’t sure what to expect. According to a Facebook event page, over 6,500 people plan on participating.

State College Police Chief Tom King says, unlike last year, downtown bars have not been paid by the State College borough to close and fraternities will be allowed to host limited social events. State Patty’s Day attendance and alcohol-fueled crimes have been on the decline for the past few years, but he says these numbers may go in the other direction this time around.

“I think it will probably be a little more active than it was last year,” King says. “But I don’t think things will get up to 2011 levels, which was out of control.”

According to multiple media reports, police responded to nearly 500 calls and made over 200 arrests on State Patty’s Day in 2011.

“Before 2013, State Patty’s day had become the single most challenging day of the year for the community,” says State College Borough Manager Tom Fountaine. “The level of high risk drinking and all of the associated impacts on the community, including significant stress on emergency medical services and public safety, presented a host of serious issues.”

Fountaine, along with leaders from Penn State’s student body and administration, convened a task force called the Partnership Against Dangerous Drinking to curb the negative impacts of State Patty’s Day. They were successful in paying bars and taverns to close the last two years, but Fountaine says this is no longer necessary now that participation in the event has decreased.

Penn State Police Chief Tyrone Parham says his department will continue to work closely with the State College Police Department to “beef up staffing” over the weekend, despite the decreasing crime rates over the past few years.

“We’re going to be out in full force doing proactive policing,” Parham says. “Our goal isn’t just to respond to calls – though we’ll be doing plenty of that – but to prevent problems from occurring.”

Parham says “nuisance violations” are particularly common on State Patty’s Day, including public drunkenness, public urination, disorderly conduct, noise violations and fighting. He adds that many of the violations are committed by people who come to State College specifically for State Patty’s Day.

“The students that I’ve talked to all seem pretty sick of this and want it to go away,” Parham says.

According to a letter from State College police to rental property tenants, police officers will focus on downtown, large apartment complexes and high-traffic residential areas. The police presence will include uniformed and plain-clothes officers. Rental property managers will also have extra staff patrolling buildings and reporting violations to police.

The letter asks tenants – which includes many university students – to keep minors out of their homes if alcohol is being served; to keep guests from yelling or throwing items off of balconies; and to make sure that the outside of their apartments are kept free of all alcohol bottles, beer cans, plastic cups and other litter.

Ferguson Township police officer Ryan Hendrick, who heads the Centre County Alcohol Taskforce, says there will also be roving bands of DUI patrols who will exclusively hunt out impaired drivers.

“Between all the departments involved, we’re going to have more than enough officers out there that if you commit a crime, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll get arrested,” Hendrick says.

King says he hopes that, someday, the weekend after THON will no longer be thought of as State Patty’s Day weekend. He thinks THAW Fest – which has bands, comedians and other free performances all over town on Saturday – is a step towards making that dream come true.

“We want people to come and enjoy State College, but we want them here for the right reasons,” Hendrick says. “And THAW Fest is a much better reason.”

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