---
title: "Restoring Quality of Life to Neighborhoods under Seige"
type: "pdf"
year: "2009"
canonical: "/projects/703"
---

# Restoring Quality of Life to Neighborhoods under Siege 

# Table of Contents

- [Restoring Quality of Life to Neighborhoods under Siege](#restoring-quality-of-life-to-neighborhoods-under-siege)
  - [Project Summary:](#project-summary)
- [Scanning the Environment](#scanning-the-environment)
- [Analyze the Situation](#analyze-the-situation)
- [Coordinated Response](#coordinated-response)
- [Early Success; Making UNL Students Great Neighbors](#early-success-making-unl-students-great-neighbors)
  - [Early Success; Media](#early-success-media)
- [Beyond Nebraska Borders](#beyond-nebraska-borders)
- [Appendix 1](#appendix-1)
- [Appendix 3](#appendix-3)
  - [Law & Order](#law-order)
    - [Weekend parties keep cops busy](#weekend-parties-keep-cops-busy)
  - ['Party Patrol' hits the streets across Lincoln](#party-patrol-hits-the-streets-across-lincoln)
    - [NU Directions member among those cited by police.](#nu-directions-member-among-those-cited-by-police)
- [Appendix 4](#appendix-4)
- [Appendix 5](#appendix-5)
- [Appendix 6](#appendix-6)
  - [Changes in Laws and Policies](#changes-in-laws-and-policies)
- [Appendix 7](#appendix-7)
- [Appendix 8](#appendix-8)
- [Appendix 9](#appendix-9)
- [Appendix 10](#appendix-10)

## Project Summary:

Maintaining a quality of life for residents in older, fragile neighborhoods is challenging when wild parties, parking problems, loud music and peeing in the neighborhood peony's dominates the scene. Lincoln, Nebraska's oldest, poorest neighborhoods have a high percentage of non-owner occupied residents who are 1825 years old, transitory and feel no real relationship to the area. When increased calls for police intervention became routine many long time residents felt unsafe and expressed fear of continuing to live in those conditions. By the mid-1990's most residents had resigned themselves to a diminished quality of life or unwillingly made plans to leave their homes for safer territory.

Three years later, the University of Nebraska Lincoln joined nine similar (Division I, Research Intensive and large Greek communities) institutions in an effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation entitled "A Matter of Degree" (AMOD). AMOD participants were funded to reduce high-risk drinking among college students on their respective campuses and in the surrounding community using an environmental management approach guided by a campus/community coalition. The collaborative nature of the Lincoln community allowed multiple partners to join forces quickly to respond to their charge. Guided by a data driven strategic plan, the coalition was able to demonstrate the following, 1) statistically significant changes in drinking behaviors (the student binge drinking rate declined from $62 \%$ in 1997 to $41 \%$ in 2008) and primary (defined as harms to the drinker) and secondary (defined as harms to others) effects, 2) a decrease in wild party complaints in targeted areas,3) a significant increase in arrests for alcohol-related violations including but not limited to minor in possession, DUI, procuring for minors, and maintaining a disorderly house, 4) change in policy at the state, local and campus level and 5) an increase in public and community leader support for the overall mission of the project which allowed elected officials the support necessary to make tough decisions.

Central to the project's success was, and continues to be, the strong partnership with the Lincoln Police Department (LPD). Tom Casady, the Chief of Police, served as co-chair of the project providing visible, vocal and visionary leadership for the initiative. The innovation, resourcefulness and abundance thinking that law enforcement brought to the table helped set the tone for creative problem-solving that contributed to the culture change the coalition envisioned for the future.

# Scanning the Environment 

The 1990's had seen an increased recognition of significant problems related to alcohol on the part of both the UNL campus and the Lincoln, Nebraska community. Individually, both groups had begun to take action regarding alcohol-related problems and issues.

The NU Directions coalition formally began with the receipt of the five-year Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant in the fall of 1998. The nexus of campus and community awareness of the problems and movement to address the problems combined with an established network of persons already engaged in efforts both on campus and in the community created a fertile ground for planting the seeds of a large collaborative venture.

Reducing the drinking of UNL students required a close examination of the unique environmental and cultural factors that existed within the Lincoln/UNL community such as a high density of alcohol vendors and outlets and a big sporting community driven by a rabid football fan base. Using survey data, community observations, student accounts, expert analysis and various scanning techniques coalition members from markedly different backgrounds and economic interests joined together to take a close and sometimes painful look at the messages, attitudes, policies, and practices on campus and in the community that were supporting high-risk alcohol consumption.

The NU Directions coalition spent an entire year collecting and discussing data, hearing from various stakeholders, and discussing the political, social, philosophical, and economic realities of the university and the community. The coalition also reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines to help inform strategy development.

Baseline data was obtained from an environmental scan that included information on existing alcohol laws and policies at the campus, community, and state levels; outlet density; enforcement practices on campus and in the community; pricing, advertising, and promotions at local establishments; and existing community and campus alcohol efforts. As part of the evaluation, provided by the Harvard School of Public Health, data were collected

annually on state, city, and campus law and policy changes, campus and community police arrest data, campus alcohol sanction data, community hospital and emergency ICD-9 alcohol discharge data, protective custody transports to the detoxification center (referred to as Detox), and tracking of liquor licenses. In addition, monthly tracking of campus and city newspaper advertising and tri-annual tracking of on- and off-sale window advertising was done. Specific coding policies for annual indicator data tracking were developed by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Student alcohol use data was collected annually through the Student Omnibus Survey administered by the UNL Bureau of Sociological Research and supported by the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs and from the College Alcohol Study administered by the Harvard School of Public Health. Student drinking behaviors, primary and secondary effects, attitudes and perceptions of norms were very useful in developing and tracking strategic interventions designed to influence the individual and/or the environment.

In addition, the Lincoln Police Department's 30 year data repository of calls for service and related police information proved to be invaluable in pinpointing problem neighborhoods. Integrating crime data with GIS mapping systems offered compelling visual images of neighborhood hot spots plagued by social disorder. Crime data on wild party calls showed particularly high in neighborhoods with large numbers of rental property. Strategies were developed to impact quality of life in 3 residential neighborhoods adjacent to the University Campus.

# Analyze the Situation 

As cities grapple with the educational, social, and public health implications of high-risk drinking, it is evident that an environmental approach combined with evidence-based individual strategies are required to effectively impact the issue. An environmental approach focuses not just on the personal behavior of young people, but on the larger social and cultural setting in which high-risk drinking occurs.

The primary data source for determining changes in students' drinking behaviors and harms was the College Alcohol Study (CAS) authored by Henry Wechsler. The CAS, conducted by Harvard School of Public Health,

was a national mail survey of college students, which measured drinking patterns and consequences of alcohol consumption. The study found that almost half (44\%) of college students responding to the survey ( $\mathrm{N}=17,592$ ) were binge drinkers. About half of this group, or approximately $20 \%$ of the residents, were frequent binge drinkers.

Random samples of students at UNL were first surveyed in 1997 and then annually from 1999 to 2003. All samples were weighted to actual UNL demographics in the baseline year. CAS data from 1997 provided a baseline and was a key source for identifying needs and outcome targets. In addition to CAS, data from the UNL Omnibus survey, a telephone survey of UNL students conducted for the vice chancellor of student affairs, was used to supplement CAS for program planning and outcome evaluation.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln students who participated in the Wechsler study reported consumption patterns exceeding the national survey average by as much as $18 \%$. Approximately $63 \%$ of UNL students responding reported binge drinking one or more times in the past two weeks. In addition, the students surveyed, who reported consuming alcohol, experienced higher than average alcohol-related problems in 10 of the 12 categories identified in the national survey.

Qualitative and quantitative data collected at the local level supported the Wechsler findings. Results of the 1997 Student Omnibus Survey of full-time undergraduate students found that nearly $80 \%$ of UNL students reported consuming alcohol during the previous year. Approximately 27\% drank on 10 or more occasions in the past 30 days and $42.1 \%$ of the respondents reported consuming, on average, 5+ drinks per drinking occasion. Omnibus survey data found binge drinking rates to be highest among freshman and lowest among seniors. The data supported a steady decline in binge-drinking as students mature through the college experience.

Secondary binge drinking effects experienced by UNL students exceeded the national average in all eight categories identified. Specific areas of concern include, but are not limited to, higher than average reports of alcohol-related assault, unwanted sexual advance and sexual assault or date rape.

Approximately $92 \%$ of the students participating in the 1997 survey reported that alcohol is easy to obtain. Most underage student reported obtaining alcohol from another student who was over the age of 21 . The highest percentage of binge drinking occurs at either off-campus parties or in off-campus bars or clubs. Approximately $41 \%$ of the survey respondents reported binge drinking in an off-campus party which is consistent with the high number of citizen complaints reported to the Lincoln Police Department.

Through antidotal information, coalition members learned that alcohol laws and policies were regularly ignored or circumvented by students and others in the community. Because of this, a significant focus was on increasing the enforcement and consistency of enforcement on campus and in the community.

By the late 1990's, The Lincoln Police Department had adopted an order maintenance approach to large drinking parties, seeking to disperse the crowd with a minimal resources, arrests, and paperwork. Students seemed to be well aware of the limitations of one or two officers responding to a party attended by 100-200 drinkers, half who were likely to be under 21. In many ways, this low-key approach by the police had actually exacerbated the problem, emboldening young drinkers who felt little risk when the police arrived.

Changes in the departments approach to wild party calls came in 1998. The department used its extensive geographic crime analysis system and identified the neighborhoods and specific addresses where multiple or repeat violations occurred. A strategic approach was utilized in the specifically identified neighborhoods. Beginning with the first contact and continuing through with follow-up letters/personal contact with landlords of those problem properties and parents of the residents involved. This created a cultural change for the department and the neighborhoods (Appendix 1).

# Coordinated Response 

The Lincoln community has a long history of collaborative efforts, ultimately, it was the strong partnership forged between the Lincoln Police Department and higher education that helped restore quality of life to the surrounding neighborhoods. The initiatives that emerged as a result of this relationship remain a critical factor in sustaining the success achieved through coalition efforts.

The coalition, lead by the city's chief of police and the university's vice-chancellor for student affairs, employed a data driving strategic planning process that resulted in 13 goals and 60 objectives. These goals were based on specific problem areas identified by coalition during grant writing and the planning year. Having a data driven focus helped reduce potential conflicts over goals and objectives, because the problem to be addressed could be substantiated by the data. One key to NU Directions success is the strategic plan's strong balance between campus and community demand- and supply-side goals (Appendix 2). The entire NU Directions Strategic Plan is available upon request or at www.nudirections.org.

With the strategic plan in place efforts to implement the various components began. One of the early efforts focused on wild parties in neighborhoods. Early on there was a concern about backlash from students who might perceive that the crackdown on parties was unfairly targeted. After some initial problems with the message, professional assistance was added. Rather than using warlike terms ("crackdown", "get tough", "zero tolerance"), the message was modified to reflect a concern with neighborhood impacts and high risk behaviors. The new message was consistently focused on safe, responsible parties, employing common-sense precautions. These precautions reduce the likelihood of a party coming to the attention of the police also reduce the likelihood of high-risk drinking. We discovered the value of working with and through landlords, managers, and owners of rental property. We discovered that a key problem involves communication: landlords simply don't know what the police know about the events occurring at their property. By educating landlords, and making information available to them about police dispatches, an important ally can be engaged in resolving problems at a specific residence or apartment complex.

Early Success; Party Patrol
The on-the-street strategy of the Party Patrol was to deploy a group of six officers and one sergeant on each of several weekend nights during the academic year. Their sole responsibility is locating and responding to large parties. The Party Patrol relies on both officer observations and on complaints received from the public at the City of Lincoln 911 Emergency Communications Center.

Officers assigned to the Party Patrol work both in uniform and in plain clothes. On most occasions, two officers in plain clothes would enter parties in an undercover capacity. In many cases the hosts of the party are actually collecting a direct or indirect cover charge. This may be intended to offset the cost of the beer, but in some cases the party is actually a moneymaking venture known as a "rent party." Collecting money, directly or indirectly ("admission is free, the cups are $\$ 5$ each") is a violation of Nebraska law: sale of alcohol without a license. Other frequent violations include minor in possession of alcohol, procuring alcohol for minors, and maintaining a disorderly house.

By dedicating several officers to these tasks, it became more practical for the department to do much more than merely disperse parties. A full squad can obtain search warrants when necessary, collect evidence mainly through undercover operations, seize physical evidenced such as cash or kegs, detain and issue citations to large number of minors, investigate the source of alcohol, research ownership and lease information, interview residents, and generally ensure that those holding such parties are arrested or cited for the applicable violations.

One of the reasons for selecting this target group and the neighborhood problem was data collected from survey research. The data showed that high-risk drinking by UNL students was most likely to occur at off-campus parties-not at bars. While many enforcement efforts had focused on licensed liquor establishments, little had been done to impact the venue where binge drinking was most prevalent.

The Party Patrol strategy is aimed at the last of these venues, wild parties in neighborhoods. The project sought to reach these objectives by increasing the number of arrests at such parties, and by publicizing these results in media outlets likely to reach the target audience (Appendix 3).

# Early Success; Making UNL Students Great Neighbors 

The campaign, titled "Making UNL Students Great Neighbors," involves a variety of educational messages for students about ways to improve their relationships with their neighbors through communication, respect, and responsibility. Messages are distributed through a variety of vehicles addressing problems that tend to become neighbor complaints (Appendix 4).

The plan involves activities at three levels of intervention: Education for the general student population about community needs and standards, selected enforcement and interventions from police, landlords, and university officials, and the mediation of problematic student-resident conflicts when indicated.

The campaign was created by the UNL Student Involvement Information Strategies team, a group of undergraduate design, advertising, and marketing students, and coordinated by the NU Directions graduate student. The team conducted a variety of focus groups throughout the summer to refine the messages and images and ensure that they would appeal to students living off-campus. An undergraduate student from UNL's Department of Communication Studies conducted an evaluation of the campaign under an independent study.

The campaign continued through the fall and spring semester, culminating in a neighborhood service learning project in North Bottoms as part of the "Big Event" planned by Student Involvement's ServiceLearning/Volunteer Services. The "Big Event" is a city-wide project where UNL students serve throughout the city (Appendix 5).

## Early Success; Media

The media strategy has been critical to our success. Making the most out of small numbers of arrests is vital to changing students' perceptions. In a campus environment, virtually everyone reads the student newspaper, and

word can travel fast. This worked to our advantage. On the first weekend of our trial run in 1998, student interns at two television stations were aware that something different was happening well in advance of any news releases. Reporters from these stations contacted the department to make inquiries on Sunday after these interns discussed their observations with the news staff.

A media strategy continues to be an integral component of the overall project and each time a Party Patrol detail is conducted, the department follows up with a Monday media briefing. Even a small amount of enforcement is accompanied by a large amount of publicity aimed at effecting the students' perception of risk. NU Directions employed a communications specialist who assisted in framing these messages in a consistent way, and helped immensely in raising the awareness of students about the changed landscape of the party scene. Social marketing and social norms campaigns were implemented both on campus and in the community to assist in changing the culture of college drinking.

Continuous scanning of the environment for new and emerging trends allowed the coalition to react to changes in the retail market, youth activities and neighborhoods tailoring responses to maximize impact. There were a number of changes in state and local laws and changes in policies during the project (Appendix 6).

# Beyond Nebraska Borders 

On at least one occasion, actions by the Lincoln Police Department impacted high-risk drinking in locations beyond the state boundaries. On November 17 and 24, 2001, the UNL campus newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan, included an insert created by the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau of Panama City Beach, Florida. The insert was a 12 page, 4 color piece in the style of a magazine that contained spring break information advertisements from hotels and clubs in Panama City Beach. Many of the advertisements featured high-risk consumption of alcohol and other high-risk behaviors, such as casual sex. In the insert, the Panama City Policy Chief is quoted as saying about underage drinking "we are tolerant" and then the article paraphrased that as "meaning that lot of things will get overlooked."

The spring break insert deeply concerned coalition members who were appalled at the frank displays of binge drinking and other high-risk behaviors. Coalition members initiated a letter writing campaign including a letter from Chief Casady.

A revised insert appeared in the DN on January 17 but coalition members weren't satisfied. The Nebraska MADD Chapter sent a letter to their counterpart in Florida and the local prevention agency contacted the first ladies of both Nebraska and Florida. Columba Bush, the first lady of Florida referred the complaint to the Florida Drug Czar who contacted Panama City Beach officials.

As a result of the publicity generated by the NU Directions coalition, an editorial appeared in the Tallahassee (FL) Democrat chastising the Panama City Beach Visitors Bureau. Also, the national publicity raised about the harmful messages promulgated by the Panama City Beach newspaper insert prompted CBS to feature issues related to spring break celebrations on their April 17 segment of " 48 Hours" featuring Chief Casady.

According to the News-Herald of Phoenix, AZ, tourism leaders across the country contemplated new marketing tactics including more preproduction scrutiny of yearly college newspaper inserts. The following year, the Panama City Beach insert was radically different. Overt advertising of drink specials were absent. Pictures depicting spring break activities did not include consumption. Prominently featured was an entire page on responsible drinking tips and warnings about underage drinking enforcement. The wholesale shift away from the previous alcohol-centered focus was applauded by the NU Directions coalition. Chief Casady sent letters to Panama City leaders and the visitor's bureau congratulating them on the change.

Years of Assessment;
Progress towards the coalition goals and objectives was measured by survey research conducted annually at UNL by the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Henry Wechsler, the principle investigator, conducted this research.

In addition, the Lincoln Police Department maintains descriptive statistics concerning arrests for minor in possession of alcohol. The department has also conducted geographic analysis to determine the impact on complaints of disorderly parties near campus and in the specific neighborhoods where wild parties were targeted. Among the key findings:

- Arrests for minor in possession of alcohol by the Lincoln Police Department have more than quadrupled in the past decade.
- Police dispatches at particularly troublesome apartment complexes, such as Claremont Park and Stadium View, plummeted following intervention with the property owners.
- Survey data revealed that with the first three years of the project, underage UNL students' perception of the risk of being caught if they drink at an off-campus party increased from $33 \%$ in 1997 to $43 \% 2000$ (Appendix 7). Considerable efforts were made to identify specific locations where repeat violations or complaints occur. Using the Lincoln Police Department's extensive geographic crime analysis system, the locations of multiple complaints have been identified, the owners of the parcels identified, and personal contact has been made with several of these landlords. Starting in 2005 landlords have been routinely contacted via standardized letter from the police department identifying the problem property they own and setting deadlines to correct the problem or face criminal tickets for maintaining a disorderly house. The Lincoln city ordinance holds accountable the resident and the property owner when disorderly house violations occur (Appendix 8). This ordinance and it's consequences for landlords featured prominently in the letters sent by the police and in personal conversations with command staff at the police department.

The percentage of UNL students who binged on at least one occasion dropped from $62 \%$ in 1997 to $47 \%$ in 2003. This $15 \%$ change was statistically significant. There was an increase in students who reported drinking four or fewer drinks, and a decrease in those who reported drinking five or six drinks-while the number of students reporting drinking seven or more drinks has stayed relatively constant. This suggests that reductions in binge drinking have occurred primarily by making moderate or borderline high-risk drinkers more moderate, rather than by reducing the drinking of high-risk frequent binge drinkers.

During the program, students showed significant decreases in missing a class or getting behind in schoolwork as a result of drinking, with students reporting these problems less than half as much in 2003 as in 1997. Students reported significantly fewer alcohol-related instances of doing something they regretted, having blackouts, or arguing with friends. Although fewer students reported engaging in unplanned or unprotected sex in 2003 relative to 1997, the difference was not statistically significant. Perhaps the most impressive change was a more than $50 \%$ decrease in students reporting five or more of these problems.

Drinking and driving began to decrease in 2002. By 2003, a significantly lower percentage of students reported driving after drinking, driving after binging, and riding with a driver who was high or drunk. Although these decreases are encouraging, especially for driving after 5 or more drinks, the rates of drinking and driving remained relatively unchanged.

Arrests for liquor law violations (MIP, public consumption, false ID, and establishment violations) increased from 1317 in 1997 to 3110 in 2003. In areas targeted by the NU Directions strategic plan, MIP arrests increased from 667 in 1997 to 1434 in 2003, and disorderly house (Wild Party Patrol citations) increased from 207 in 1997 to 550 in 2003. The only arrest statistic that did not substantially change was DUI, with only a moderate increase from 1143 in 1997 to 1345 in 2003, although a peak of 1605 arrests in 1999 during NU Directions' first year may have helped reduce drinking and driving in subsequent years (Appendix 9).

The number of students reported to the student judicial affairs office for alcohol-related offences increased from 356 in the 1998-1999 academic year to 644 in 2002-2003. The number of students sanctioned to mandatory skills training increased from 283 in 1998-1999 to 522 in 2002-2003. In 2002-2003, 11 of the 21 fraternities at UNL were being sanctioned by Student Judicial Affairs. These increases in citations and sanctions indicate a significant increase in campus alcohol enforcement during the NU Directions grant.

The Lincoln Police Department Party Patrol project is a small part of a comprehensive campus-community initiative. Each strategy supports and enhances other efforts. Overall, NU Directions has dramatically effected change in the political landscape, elevating high-risk drinking and related issues to a high position on the public agenda. The program was organized around strategies to change the environment in which binge drinking

occurred and involved input and cooperation from officials and students of the university, representatives from the city and the neighborhood near the university, law enforcement, as well as public health and medical officials.

The project continues to evolve and be an important part of reducing the impact of wild party disturbances in neighborhoods and in reducing binge drinking (Appendix 10).

Key Project Participants
Chief Tom Casady
Lincoln Police Department
Linda Major, Director Student Involvement/NU Directions
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Captain Joy Citta
Lincoln Police Department
Contact Person;
Captain Joy Citta, Lincoln Police Department, 575 S. $10^{\text {th }}$ Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
4024417239 office, 4024417010 FAX
Lpd429@cjis.lincoln.ne.gov

# Appendix 1 

![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-0.jpeg)

Hot spot map, high density of wild party complaints near the UNL Campus

|  | Campus Interventions | Community Interventions |
| :--: | :--: | :--: |
| Demand-Side | - Goal 1 Increase the availability of attractive student-centered social activities on the NU campus.  - Goal 2 Increase low-risk drinking among groups of students at highest risk for frequent and occasional binge drinking as identified through existing survey data.  - Goal 6 Develop, implement, and promote campus based substance abuse intervention and treatment services.  - Goal 11 Increase awareness of the risk associated with high risk and illegal drinking.  - Goal 12 Correct misperceptions regarding high risk drinking (among UNL students). | - Goal 1 Increase the availability of attractive student-centered social activities off the NU campus.  - Goal 3 Reduce the use of false identification.  - Goal 12 Correct misperceptions regarding high risk drinking among parents and high-school students.  - Goal 13 Collaborate with NU colleges and departments to encourage faculty, staff, and student participation in service learning opportunities. |
| Supply-Side | - Goal 5 Review and revise institutional policy as appropriate. | - Goal 4 Increase enforcement to create greater risk associated with high-risk consumption and service.  - Goal 7 Reduce high-risk marketing and promotion practices.  - Goal 8 Improve relations between neighborhood residents and NU students residing in the community.  - Goal 9 Reduce over-service and service to minors.  - Goal 10 Reduce or control the proliferation of liquor licenses. |

# Appendix 3

## Law & Order

### Weekend parties keep cops busy

**By EDM JORDYLER**

**THE DAILY NEWS**

The Lincoln Police Department's party, paired with an office over the weekend, issuing 134 citations.

"It's about the busiest weekend for the party, paired that I can remember," *Lincoln Police Chief* Tom Cassidy said.

The citations included attesting to public, maintaining a classy daily house, selling alcohol without a license, observing alcohol for a minor, possession of stolen property, labeling, giving false information, consenting alcohol to public, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, negligent driving and possession of non-otka, Cassidy said.

He added that one of the mail problems the patrol hotel was large numbers of parties in the same neighborhood.

"Of the nine parties the party, paired busiest, most were in the area of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, near JJF, and a street," Cassidy said. Another party was home at the Kotto Lodge, 2410 NW 12th St.

Not all the people who received citations, though, were UNL students.

"This experience has been in the past that had the people who got involved in UNL students," Cassidy said.

One of the busiest parties belonged to former Association of Students of the University of Nebraska presidential candidate Kevin Koss.

Koss, whose Springer Party failed to win the AELN elections last spring, threw a party at his residence at 5:59 P.M. and was later cited for possession of stolen property, maintaining a classy daily house, precuring alcohol for a minor, and distributing without a license.

Among the stolen pieces of property were two street signs and a dispenser for the Lincoln Journal Star.

"The suspect said the dispenser was kind of fun," *Police Captain* Joe Cifu said, a front station. Among the notice used by the LPD in the past to increase the number of sold parties have been to work hand-in-hand with landlords in hopes of releasing severe noise.

"If landlords can't enforce their rules, they face citations," Cassidy said.

The department received more than 50 complaint calls during the weekend regarding wild parties, but the wild party devel, which consists of six officers and a sergeant, only sent this to get to new of them.

"We can easily be tied up for two to three hours," Cassidy said.

## 'Party Patrol' hits the streets across Lincoln

### NU Directions member among those cited by police.

**BY MARTH ALEXANDER**

**Count: 60408780**

Kevitt Koss, a funder in cunguette science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, kicked back Friday, not giving his first day back to work.

His friends, including one who parts a house with him at 1913 P.M., had a few hours and watched as the night sky darkened.

Koss, 50, a recent candidate for the student government president's at UNL, said he knew most of the 25 or 26 people who showed up.

According to police, he didn't know very of his guests. They were even participants in an conference, using to curtail wild party complaints.

"They claimed they had no money, but they have been given to the busiest," Koss said. "We said our roommate wasn't selling any beer."

I think they're there using stuff.

Koss' house was one of nine all-decorer Lincoln police station over the weekend as part of their crackdown on parties run alone.

Difficult waste more than 130 dollars in partograph, among the most ever written on a weekend sting.

Most popular among those were those for almost 4x possession of alcohol — 84.

Another 19 people, Koss included, were cited for maintaining classy daily houses, and 17 were cited for procuring alcohol for a minor.

Police Chief Tom Cassidy played a widespread homage from the week, and a parlor for injurious bloods, pointing out the logs, beer bottles and toothbrushes.

In recent years, Cassidy and his officers have taken a tougher stance on wild party, including the principal logs food or dangerous enough to act on a long-term complaint. They've regularly patrolled known party neighborhoods for students and non-employers.

Police have a vested interest in responding to party complaints. Capt. Joe Cifu said, because no one else can protect the neighbors who choose the property.

The original "Party Patrol," as police labeled them, were funded partly by NU Directions, a campus organization at UNL that aims to curb high-risk drinking.

Cassidy co-chairs the group.

And Koss himself is a student teacher, organized by the president of the Association of Students in the University of Nebraska.

"We hope it that we all influence high rates by getting a job while together," said Tom Workman, assistant director of student involvement at UNL, and a spokesman for NU Directions. "Of rather, have someone to make their way to."

Koss is one among a shovec of office complaining that police tactics are simply stealing students and problems elsewhere.

Koss's office is always going to drink, he said, and water is going to drink as minors. Cooking does not add parties to the public's group people on the streets.

Koss is also a member of the 1999-2000 UNL public public meeting, which he is also a member of.

He should they treat students as children. Koss is particularly engaged by officers who call students parents to share their children's reports.

See PARTS, Page 4B

# Appendix 4 

![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-1.jpeg)

# Appendix 5

![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-2.jpeg)

# Appendix 6 

## Changes in Laws and Policies

Following is a brief summary of the alcohol-related laws and policies changed over the course of the project's history.

- In 1999, with support from NU Directions, the legislature approved a graduated driver's license for youth.
- In 2000, having an open alcohol container in a motor vehicle and an open alcohol container in public were made an offence. In 2001, the legal limit on blood alcohol content for operating a motor vehicle was lowered from. 10 to .08 , and alcohol consumption (in addition to possession) by a person younger than age 21 was made an offense.
- In 2000, NU Directions hosted a False ID community forum to address issues surrounding false IDs. Following the forum, the Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles changed the state policy to prohibit persons from having both a driver's license and state ID; in 2001, the State Legislature passed a law requiring a new digital driver's license that makes forgery difficult. These new laws strengthened the policy and enforcement environment.
- In 2001, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the City of Lincoln's denial of an off-sale liquor license for failure to comply with local zoning regulations. This ruling reversed the rulings of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and allowed the city to pursue zoning as a means to control licensing. After the ruling, the City of Lincoln, using data provided by NU Directions, began a number of specific policy and enforcement actions.
- In 2002, the City Council adopted a formal internal policy for approving one-day special use permits.
- Also in 2002, the city took the first action to add conditions to a liquor license requested by a dance club. The State Liquor Control Commission did not contest the conditional license, thus establishing a precedent for local jurisdiction over license conditions.
- In 2003, NU Directions was asked to provide an analysis of high-risk establishments and make recommendations for a new conditional licensing policy. Using environmental indicator data and on-site observations in bars, a report was prepared that associated a high proportion of problems with establishments that only served alcohol (alcohol only, no food service) and those with only limited food services. This led to a recommendation to place special conditions, including increased levels of mandatory server training and minimum staff-to-patron ratios, on these establishments.

# Appendix 7 

![img-3.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-3.jpeg)

This graph shows large increases in enforcement activity (tickets for MIP and for Maintaining a Disorderly House) between 2001 and 2008, and a significant decrease in party disturbance complaints from the public.
![img-4.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-4.jpeg)

# Appendix 8 

City of Lincoln, Nebraska city ordinance on Disorderly House
9.20.30 Disorderly House; Maintaining

The term "disorderly house" as used in this chapter shall be deemed to be any room, house building, structure, or premises, where unlawful or illegal acts are being committed. It shall be unlawful for the owner, lessee, resident, manager, or proprietor of any room, house, building, structure, or premises to knowingly collect or permit to be collected therein persons who are engaging in any unlawful act, or to knowingly make, cause, permit, or suffer to be made therein any loud or improper noise to the annoyance or disturbance of any person or neighborhood.

# Appendix 9 

![img-5.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-5.jpeg)

# Appendix 10 

Change in UNL students who binge drink and those who do not.
![img-6.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/09-54/img-6.jpeg)