La Crosse police share safety tips
Speaker travels country giving advice on curbing city drinking problems
Tara Bannow
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
"It kind of puts a license plate on every keg," he said.
Gavrilos said because the ordinance has not been passed throughout La Crosse County, it only applies to the city of La Crosse.
"It's hard to enforce it when they can go outside the city and not register the keg," he said.
There is also an ordinance requiring servers to be completely sober while on the job, Gavrilos said, adding since fall of 2006, the city requires anyone serving alcohol to take a responsibility class. The class covers false identification, signs of impairment and license requirements.
The La Crosse Police Department also implemented non-traditional enforcement techniques, Gavrilos said. In January 2005, the Alcohol Compliance and Education program was created to develop creative enforcement techniques like party patrol, plain clothes officers and monitoring establishments selling alcohol, Gavrilos said.
"We've had a significant increase in trust among students and the police department," Gavrilos said. "This is the first time I've seen students, the university and the police department working together."
The Tri-campus Advocacy Group, composed of students from La Crosse, Viterbo University and Western Technical College, has been meeting on a regular basis to aid in the reduction of alcohol-related injury in the area. Recently, Gavrilos said, the group developed a river-watch program.
Jennifer Lee, director of the Center for Alcohol Studies and Education at UW-Eau Claire, said some of the policies in La Crosse could be applicable to Eau Claire.
"We were looking at their partnerships to see what we can learn from steps they've taken," Lee said. "We want to know the message to how they've gotten to what works for them."
Junior Alex Peasley said Eau Claire has some similarities to La Crosse.
"It seems with the student deaths that La Crosse is a little out of control," he said, adding he thinks underage drinking is problem in Eau Claire as well. "I think we're getting better but obviously we still need some improvement."
Freshman Amy Shelton said if students took the time to listen, they would benefit from hearing Gavrilos' speech.
"It's a problem at any college."
Gavrilos said because the ordinance has not been passed throughout La Crosse County, it only applies to the city of La Crosse.
"It's hard to enforce it when they can go outside the city and not register the keg," he said.
There is also an ordinance requiring servers to be completely sober while on the job, Gavrilos said, adding since fall of 2006, the city requires anyone serving alcohol to take a responsibility class. The class covers false identification, signs of impairment and license requirements.
The La Crosse Police Department also implemented non-traditional enforcement techniques, Gavrilos said. In January 2005, the Alcohol Compliance and Education program was created to develop creative enforcement techniques like party patrol, plain clothes officers and monitoring establishments selling alcohol, Gavrilos said.
"We've had a significant increase in trust among students and the police department," Gavrilos said. "This is the first time I've seen students, the university and the police department working together."
The Tri-campus Advocacy Group, composed of students from La Crosse, Viterbo University and Western Technical College, has been meeting on a regular basis to aid in the reduction of alcohol-related injury in the area. Recently, Gavrilos said, the group developed a river-watch program.
Jennifer Lee, director of the Center for Alcohol Studies and Education at UW-Eau Claire, said some of the policies in La Crosse could be applicable to Eau Claire.
"We were looking at their partnerships to see what we can learn from steps they've taken," Lee said. "We want to know the message to how they've gotten to what works for them."
Junior Alex Peasley said Eau Claire has some similarities to La Crosse.
"It seems with the student deaths that La Crosse is a little out of control," he said, adding he thinks underage drinking is problem in Eau Claire as well. "I think we're getting better but obviously we still need some improvement."
Freshman Amy Shelton said if students took the time to listen, they would benefit from hearing Gavrilos' speech.
"It's a problem at any college."
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