Last month, Pierce County’s Party Intervention Patrol arrested 32 underage drinkers at a house party. The bust primarily involved Puyallup and Emerald Ridge high school students, but underage drinking is a county-wide concern.
Local law enforcement, chemical dependency professionals and parent volunteers have participated in the Party Intervention Patrol since its conception by the Tacoma Pierce County DUI and Traffic Safety Task Force in 2007. The program is funded by the Washington Impaired Driving Council.
The purpose of the program is to discourage underage binge drinking — while simultaneously targeting driving under the influence — and so far, it has worked. Acting on tips sent in by phone and social media, the patrols have successfully dropped the number of teenage DUI-related deaths by 50 percent.
Bonney Lake Police Department typically participates in the patrol emphasis around graduation, prom and homecoming time, but they’re also on high alert during summer, when the days are long and partying tends to increase.
The party patrol emphasizes education. Ideally, minors are offered counseling services and only instigative parents are issued citations but that’s not always possible, said Bonney Lake police officer Daron Wolschleger. When he comes across intoxicated minors who are uncooperative and belligerent, they get booked into jail.
“Our main goal is to educate and keep these kids from drinking,” said Wolschleger. “The parents who allow underage drinking at parties think they’re doing good, but they’re not. As a parent, we expect them to have a zero tolerance policy — just like we do.”
Wolschleger said some parents enable a don’t ask, don’t tell policy to underage drinking for a multitude of reasons. For example, parents may say no one is allowed to drink and drive but regardless, teens can sneak out and drive any ways. They think allowing alcohol consumption under their supervision is safe but it’s not worth the risk, he said.
Sumner Chief of Police Brad Moericke said Sumner Police Department participates in the Party Patrol annually when graduation comes around. The rest of the year, the department assigns an officer to work with the Sumner School District in drugs and alcohol education efforts.
“Underage drinking and substance abuse prevention takes a multi-faceted, multi-discipline, approach … When education efforts fail, we take a more traditional enforcement approach,” Moericke said.
Nationwide, high school students drink and drive approximately 2.4 million times a month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To combat the statistics, the CDC recommends strengthening enforcement, zero tolerance and community involvement.
