Fling alcohol citations down over 90 percent from last year

This Spring Fling, the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers on campus issued only two citations for underage drinking — down from 35 during last year’s Fling.

Penn Police issued seven citations in total for a combination of disorderly conduct, underage drinking and public urination — the same number as last year. In 2013, the BLCE issued 31 citations and Penn Police issued two.

There was only one illegal drug arrest this year, and it was a non-University affiliated individual at the annual Fling concert. There were, however, students who used the “medical pod areas” set up outside of the concert, where they received help from the Medical Emergency Response Team and Emergency Medical Technicians.

This year, 22 students were transported to the hospital for alcohol intoxication. That number is only slightly down from 2014’s 24 transported students. Ten non-University affiliated individuals were transported as well.

“Those numbers speak highly of the compliance we received from students,” Vice President of the Division of Public Safety Maureen Rush said. “Fling was very successful this year — the students took heed of all the information that was put out, and as a result, the [B]LCE was pretty amazed at how calm it was.”

Penn Police received 27 calls about disturbance houses. That number is up from eight in 2014 and six in 2013. Rush said this number could include multiple complaints about single nuisance houses.

“We did a better job this year of categorizing these problems and we had pre-knowledge of some houses we needed to check in on,” Rush said. “Some of the problem houses did not disappoint us.”

Rush said even though those numbers are up, most students complied when approached by the Penn Police. Thursday night was the most active night for complaints and Saturday was the slowest, according to DPS.

Several guest riders also joined Penn Police in patrolling the area this year, including representatives from Penn Athletics, Student Heath Services, The Vice Provost of University Life’s office and various other resource center directors.

DPS found no damage inside of the Quadrangle this Fling, and reported that the Quad was more quiet than usual this year.

Several phone thefts were reported Thursday night from a party at the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity house. Other than that incident, however, there were no criminal offenses reported on campus in conjunction with Fling.

Rush said DPS, the Philadelphia Police Department and the BLCE were aware that various Fling parties were to occur downtown this year, but DPS did not hear any negative reports from the PPD or the BLCE concerning these events.

“We can’t thank MERT enough for their help,” Rush said. “And, I’d like to thank the students for listening.”

Rush warned that students cannot climb onto the rooftops of houses during parties because of the City of Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections Safety Code that forbids individuals from going onto rooftops unless there is a certain height fence surrounding the roof.

She recalled that one year during Temple University’s own Spring Fling, a female student on a rooftop took a step back to take a picture of her friend, and she fell off of the rooftop backwards and did not survive her injuries.

“They don’t have Spring Fling anymore because of that,” Rush said. “Alcohol and rooftops without a fence do not mix.”

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