AMHERST – A program aimed at promoting more peaceful neighborhoods where students live off campus, and reducing police responses to loud parties, is set to begin in September.
The pilot party registration program is scheduled to launch at the University of Massachusetts Amherst after several years of study, by both town and campus officials, of similar efforts elsewhere, including in Fort Collins and Boulder, Colorado.
Amherst Police Capt. Jennifer Gundersen said Tuesday that party registration should help the police department by cutting down on deployments of officers to break up parties. Instead, officers will be able to focus on more serious matters such as break-ins and people operating under the influence of alcohol, as well as protecting the downtown business community during the day.
“We’re optimistic that this could be beneficial for officers, and that officers can be reassigned to more important tasks,” said Gundersen, who is co-chairwoman of the Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking’s municipal strategies subcommittee.
The Select Board Monday was informed by Gundersen and Sally Linowski, associate dean of students for Off Campus Student Life and Community Education, that the program is ready.
Linowski said party registration is about being good partners with the town and ensuring responsible students. Most students, Linowski said, want to do the right thing, but may be overwhelmed the first time they host a party.
As envisioned, a student interested in holding a party off campus on a Friday or Saturday night would visit the Off-Campus Student Center in the Campus Center. These students would provide contact information and would get information about the town bylaws and a brief overview of how to keep guests from causing trouble, what Linowski terms “harm reduction education.”
On Friday morning, Amherst’s emergency dispatchers would enter the information collected at UMass into a database. If a noise complaint is received about any of the registered parties, an officer at the station would call the host and inform the host that the party must end. If the party is still going 20 minutes later, officers would be sent to the scene.
For Amherst Police, this should mean fewer responses to parties.
Gundersen said the department responds to between 700 and 1,200 noise complaints annually, with each requiring at least two officers, sometimes more depending on the scale of a gathering.
The vast majority are handled by issuing in-person verbal warnings, Gundersen said, with only a small percentage leading to arrests or court summons for violations of town noise, nuisance house and alcohol bylaws.
Gundersen said she sees this as an opportunity to reduce negative interactions, noting that the department’s preference is to meet with students in a more positive setting.
Party registration should also better inform students about their responsibilities in the community.
“At the Amherst Police Department, we think that messaging is vital,” Gundersen said.
Linowski said UMass officials will evaluate the program in January, though many likely won’t take advantage of it.
“We’re expecting it will be a slow start as people have to trust and believe in the process,” Linowski said.
But if students are hesitant to use it because they are worried registering a party is putting a target on their backs, Gundersen said that shouldn’t be a concern, as police are aware of hot spots even before complaints come in.
“We already know where the parties are,” Gundersen said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
