Dartblog

second in a series; read the first here.

The first way to end up in the clutches of the Hanover Po is if Dartmouth’s Safety & Security officers call the police in to arrest you. Why S&S does this is quite beyond me. I would not call in the police to arrest my son or daughter if I found them with a beer, and a college acting in loco parentis should not do so either.

A classmate of mine who is presently the Chief of Police for Providence, Rhode Island, and was previously the Assistant Chief in New Haven, recently told me that in his memory, the Brown and Yale campus po had never called in an alcohol violation to either one of his police forces. But it does happen in Hanover, and often. To wit:

Dartmouth Safety and Security called Hanover Police regarding an intoxicated Dartmouth freshman last Saturday. The officer found the 19-year-old male in the first-floor restroom of Byrne Hall sitting on a toilet with no shirt and his boxers around his ankles. There was vomit on the toilet seat and the student’s clothes were piled on the floor next to him. When the ambulance arrived, officers dressed him and he managed to walk to the ambulance with their assistance. At this point, however, he refused transport in the ambulance and officers concluded that he was coherent enough to be taken to Dick’s House. The student has a court date set for Dec. 15. [From The Dartmouth’s Police Blotter column]

Dartmouth Safety and Security was called to a room in Mid-Massachusetts Hall to provide assistance to a 20-year old female, who was described as having projectile-vomited all over herself and the room. Safety and Security turned her over to Hanover Police, who transported her to DHMC. One Hanover Police officer described the scene as “pretty nasty.” She is scheduled for an appearance in court on April 22, but is eligible for the alcohol diversion program. [From The Dartmouth’s Police Blotter column]

The second way to run afoul of the HPo is if you are spotted by one of the Town’s ever-vigilant officers. Vomiting, stumbling or carrying a cup could be tipoffs for Hanover’s public defenders that you need to blow into the little white tube:

A Hanover Police officer covering Saturday night’s men’s hockey game against Sacred Heart found a Dartmouth student bent over in the bushes in front of Thompson Arena. Upon closer inspection, the police officer was able to determine that the Dartmouth freshman was, in fact, intoxicated and had been vomiting there. An ambulance transported him to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Hanover Police later arrested the student on charges of unlawful possession and intoxication. [From The Dartmouth’s Police Blotter column]

A Mount Holyoke College student visiting Dartmouth was spotted stumbling up the hill near the parking lot of Theta Delta Chi fraternity. Upon spotting an officer on patrol, the subject placed an object on the ground behind a telephone pole. The officer presumed the object to be a plastic cup of beer and turned around to stop the female subject. The subject admitted immediately that she was hiding the beer to prevent the officer from seeing it, but said that she was of legal drinking age. When she could not produce any form of identification, the officer said he would run her name through the system, forcing her to admit that she was actually 20 years old. The student was arrested and has a court date on Dec. 5. [From The Dartmouth’s Police Blotter column]

Beyond these two avenues to arrest, the Hanover Police force’s real volume producer is the College’s Good Samaritan policy — when it leads to a call for an ambulance. This sad state of affairs will be our subject tomorrow.