Both APD and OUPD will have extra staff working to police the weekend.
Ohio University’s Sibs Weekend presents a time for students to introduce their siblings to college life — including the drinking habits of Playboy's No. 1 party school.
While Abby Kenner, a junior studying education, acknowledged that some OU students take their younger, underage siblings drinking, she said her roommate will take a different approach when her roommate's 17-year-old brother visits.
“She’s absolutely not letting him have even a beer,” Kenner said. “Like, nothing at all.”
Kenner said she wouldn’t be having a sibling over, but that she did have a friend from home visiting. She said she planned to hit the bars with her friend, despite the rush Sibs Weekend might bring.
“Especially the restaurants are hard to get into,” she said.
Athens Police Department Chief Tom Pyle said there will be extra APD officers out, and that alcohol violations are the most common offenses the department deals with on Sibs Weekend.
"There's a certain contingent of sibs that come to drink with big brothers and big sisters, and that can become problematic,” Pyle said.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="7f25f180-cb2c-11e5-b6c6-2be21fbb43c4"}}
Ohio University Police Department Lt. Tim Ryan said the weekend will be a bit busier for OUPD. The department will have to provide security for events like the T-Pain concert in addition to patrolling the streets.
The events will be staffed independently of regular shifts, though, Ryan said.
He said Sibs Weekend bears a resemblance to special weekends like Moms and Dads Weekends.
“Sometimes we expect to see some juveniles that are intoxicated, that type of thing,” Ryan said. “Other than that, I don’t think we’re going to expect anything too out of the ordinary.”
One thing that does slow the department down on Sibs Weekend is interaction with underage younger siblings. When OUPD officers arrest someone under eighteen, they have to contact the juvenile's parents.
“We can’t just take a 16-year-old to jail,” Ryan said. “It’s little more time consuming.”
Pyle also said the juvenile arrests take up extra time for his department. Police have to secure guardianship before releasing juveniles — while they can simply release an eighteen year old to a friend, juveniles are more “problematic” for the department.
“If you are a non legal adult, anything under age 18, (there are) totally different rules,” he said.
@baileygallion
bg272614@ohio.edu
