With the 4,930 new students who flooded UCSB this fall came an additional eight officers on patrol in Isla Vista every Friday and Saturday night – and an increase in citations and arrests.

The addition brings the number of Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Dept. officers to 60 on patrol each weekend through mid-October and is meant to help control the party-goers that crowd I.V. at the beginning of every college school year, I.V. Foot Patrol Lt. Russ Birchim said.

“The weekend after school starts is the biggest party weekend. We’ll have 18-plus officers on patrol, six county jail personnel, two vans, two county officers from the jail to pick up arrestees, two officers to book suspects and two to take the van,” he said.

Last weekend, the IVFP cited 95 people for minors in possession and 28 for open containers, arrested 22 suspects for being drunk in public and handed out 17 urinating in public tickets. According to Birchim, a first offence for urinating in public comes with a $670 fine and a suspect can be charged as much as $1,300 if convicted of a second offence of this nature.

“The more cops you have, the more arrests are made … the past weekend was quite busy; Saturday night especially,” Birchim said. “There were a lot of students out here Friday and Saturday. It’s primarily the 18-year-old freshman out of the house for the first time with no parental control. They should be put on notice that any illegal activity will not be tolerated.”

According to Birchim, the station received 95 calls for service on Friday and Saturday night, including 28 loud-party complaints. Fourteen of these complaints led to noise violations – a $108 fine.

“Kids think we go out of control with citations and arrests, but if they’re too drunk to know who they’re with, the chances of being a victim are great – sexual or otherwise. We’re also taking kids to the hospital who would have died otherwise,” Birchim said. “I would also like to point out to the women – lock your door; keep it locked. Make sure everyone has a key … the normal scenario out here is that they leave the door open for the roommate.”

Birchim encouraged students to party responsibly, and inform out-of-town guests that the laws are the same in Isla Vista as anywhere else.

“[Problems with out-of-towners] are not as prevalent as it was a few years ago [but] people lose control when they come out here – high school kids get into fights,” he said. “It’s disheartening to me to drive down DP on Sunday morning and see the number of keg cups in the three to four blocks. … There are environmental concerns – all that stuff ends up in the ocean. At least provide some trashcans. … I appeal to students to drink in moderation. Have a good time, but don’t become so blitzed that you don’t even know who you’re with.”

-Staff writer Ladan Moeenziai also contributed to this story

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