The Ohio Investigative Unit sends more undercover officers to Athens during big event weekends in order to keep underagers from consuming and buying alcohol.
That person dressed in plain clothes who’s eyeballing you buying alcohol? He or she could be an undercover agent trying to prevent illegal, underage drinkers.
In Athens, the Ohio Investigative Unit is working to curtail illegal drinking, especially during themed weekends, such as Fest season or Sibs Weekend.
In 2014 alone, there were 479 arrests made in Athens by undercover agents with the Ohio Investigative Unit, according to reports from the department’s website.
Of those 479 arrests, 253 were people under the age of 21 knowingly possessing beer in particular, and more than 80 were people under the age of 21 knowingly consuming beer.
Rumors can quickly spread between Ohio University students that undercover officers and liquor patrol agents flood Uptown bars the week leading up to certain events, such as Sibs Weekend, the Athens Halloween Block Party or Fest weekends.
“Our staffing levels are related to special events,” Eric Wolf, agent-in-charge for the OIU, said.
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Athens’ OIU will pull officers from the department’s six other district offices to supply enough coverage for a certain area, Wolf said.
The Athens Police Department no longer regularly patrols undercover officers at alcohol vendors, according to a previous Post report, and instead relies on the OIU for undercover arrests related to underage drinking.
During Sibs Weekend — Feb. 6 to Feb. 8 — undercover officers arrested six underage offenders, according to the OIU website.
During last fall’s Athens Halloween Block party, undercover agents with OIU made 94 arrests for underage drinking, according to its website. Forty-three of the arrests were for possession of beer.
With Fest season on the horizon, those looking to drink underage before or during a fest could find themselves in trouble. More than 100 underage drinkers were arrested at #12Fest last spring by OIU undercover cops.
Since Palmer Fest 2012, which was shut down after a house fire and riot situations, street fests have been considered relatively calm by local police.
High Fest saw a 55 percent increase in undercover arrests from 2012 to 2014 with 29 underage arrests in 2014, 37 in 2013 and 13 in 2012. However, there was a 22 percent decrease in arrests between 2013 and 2014.
Palmer Fest, however, saw a 49 percent decrease in arrests from 2012 to 2014, according to its website, with 23 arrests in 2014, 34 in 2013 and 45 in 2012.
Mill Fest 2014 saw 36 underage arrests on 55 charges, according to a previous Post report. That’s a 9 percent increase from the 33 arrests in 2012. Arrest numbers for 2013 were not available on OIU’s website.
If an undercover officer catches an underage person in a bar or a store with a drink in-hand, that consumer might not be the only one paying for it, Wolf said.
OIU will place a violation against the bartender or seller if officers can prove the underage drinker bought a drink from that bar or store.
Employees with The C.I., 32 N. Court St., are taking steps to prevent undercover arrests due to underage drinking in their bar.
“We just try to educate employees on what the IDs look like and card everyone,” Gavin Miller, manager of The C.I., said.
Miller said that the majority of the time, C.I. employees aren’t notified if an underage drinker is arrested in the bar, as they usually don’t have a drink in hand at the time of the arrest.
@chelseasickk
cs117913@ohio.edu
