Photo courtesy of The State Press
The next time you go out to an ASU party, you could be riding home in the back of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s car with your hands cuffed behind your back.
After an astounding almost 1,400 arrests during the first three weekends after school was back in session, the sheriff’s office has decided to step in. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is teaming up with Tempe police officers to help crack down on DUI’s, underage drinking and out-of-control parties.
Arizona State has become infamous for its party school reputation, but have we finally gone too far?
Junior Alicia Canales said, “It seems to be played up a lot more which is interesting because I feel like ASU has always been a party school. I don’t know how they are actually going to stop kids.”
Last year was one of those times that ASU was in the news so often for problems with drinking that people seemed to forget about all the other amazing facets of the school.
From a 20-year-old being left at the hospital unconscious, drinking 20 shots of tequila, with nothing but a Post-It note with someone’s name and number on it to a boy being found dead after going missing from a fraternity social event last year marked some of ASU’s all-time worst party tragedies.
So far this year police are obviously trying to catch more people, but already there have been more incidents after nights of crazy partying and too much booze.
On Monday, Michael Crow sent out an e-mail statement to all ASU students declaring that, “Arizona State University fully endorses Tempe’s Safe and Sober initiative and has deployed ASU police officers to assist in patrolling high traffic areas in the community.”
ASU and the city of Tempe are trying to combat the problem by adding more police officers and arresting more offenders, but will that be enough?
As the school year continues, we will all just have to wait and see.