Pitt police kick tailgate kegs

With the memory of the Pitt’s first tailgate of the season and its unexpected revival of… With the memory of the Pitt’s first tailgate of the season and its unexpected revival of rules still fresh in the minds of students, plans for tomorrow’s pre-game party are in the works.

Pitt police issued four underage drinking citations on Sept. 2, the season opener of Pitt football. Several other citations were given out by plainclothed and uniformed city officers scattered throughout the student parking lot.

Kegs were not permitted in the student lot, which is an old rule typically overlooked – until this season.

“I’ve brought kegs down for the past three years and never had anyone say anything to me,” senior Ryan Dagen said.

Dagen’s tailgating crew was one of the first groups in the student lot. Within minutes, police asked them to get rid of their kegs or exit the parking lot.

The group went to a nearby private lot and paid $40 to park two cars. Other keg-bearing students quickly filled the rest of the spaces.

“Putting barrels of beer in a lot before a game, it’s just not necessary,” Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney said.

Delaney said the Pitt Police are looking to create a fun college atmosphere without having to call the medics.

Officers aren’t targeting cases of beer or containers of alcohol because they believe students are more likely to stop drinking and take their leftovers home.

“No one will take a keg home,” Delaney said. “They’ll keep drinking to finish it.”

Underage drinking citations issued by University police usually average around three or four per game, according to Pitt Police Commander Francis Walsh.

Penn State University Police average about 20 a game.

Penn State also does not permit kegs at tailgates, and hasn’t since the late 1980s. Penn State University Police Assistant Director Tyrone Parham said they rarely see kegs because of tight enforcement. Violating students will have their tap or keg confiscated, and will most likely face judicial action from the University.

Penn State kicked off a new rule this season which says there cannot be drinking in the parking lots between the start and the end of the game. While officers at Pitt remind lingering tailgaters of the game’s beginning, there is no rule that they must stop.

Dagen thinks the keg crackdown at Heinz Field won’t affect tomorrow’s pre-game festivities, only students’ wallets.

He said that students who want beer at their tailgate will have to buy cases, which are more expensive than kegs, or pay to park somewhere else.

“It’s not going to slow down drinking by any means,” Dagen said. “All they’re doing is making it more expensive for college kids.”

Sophomore Matt Hemmerly heard about underage citations given out during the last tailgate, but still plans on going tomorrow.

“As long as you’re not stupid directly to cops, they don’t really do anything to you,” Hemmerly said.

Chief Delaney called the last Pitt game a success and plans on continuing the same kind of enforcement at tomorrow’s and all future games.

“The majority behaved themselves and had a good time,” he said. “And we won.”