Little 5 arrests double this year

With Little 500 regarded as one of "the greatest college weekends," many students expect to see a large police presence all weekend. This year was no exception.\nIU Police Department officers made a total of 125 arrests this weekend -- an increase of 211 percent from last year, and wrote 76 citations, an increase of 345 percent, said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger.\nIndiana State Excise Police Lt. Tom Miles said 185 files were charged with the prosecutor's office this weekend. \nOne-hundred thirty-nine minors, between the ages of 18 to 20, were arrested Miles said. He said two were juveniles under 18, and 16 were adults over 21. \nMiles added the Village Pantry on 12th and Indiana was cited for selling alcoholic beverages to minors.\nMinger said while the number of arrests is up, the severity of the offenses has definitely decreased.\n"Back then, we had to block off and barricade Jordan Avenue off at Law Lane, all of the way out to the Bypass because it was like one huge party," Minger said. "We didn't have enough personnel to even control and contain what was going on. So many people were getting injured."\nMinger said the Little 500 parties used to spill out into apartment complexes when things especially got out of hand.\n"Probably the highest damage and potential for damage was at Varsity Villas where there were tipped over cars, and people were setting fire to them," Minger said. "Students were throwing beer bottles and water balloons, and the fire department had to be escorted in by police in riot gear."\nMinger said incidents such as these provoked efforts to control and reform violent activity during the popular annual event.\n"It was a collective effort on the part of apartment owners, bar owners, restaurant owners, University law enforcement officers and prosecuting offices," Minger said. "Everyone got together to see what we need to do to hold this activity to a minimum. It was very effective, as you can see -- things have gotten a lot better -- not without incident of course, but dramatically better."\nMinger said increased communication and implementation of extra police forces have helped control the behavior occurring during these weekends.\n"The apartment complexes hired security to restrict the number of people in the area," Minger said. "Owners put extra people on duty to control their patrons from becoming too drunk, as well as the amount of people coming in and out. Police have made efforts to have state police helicopters and extra reinforcements all over campus, and therefore we communicated much better in deploying our officers."\nBecause the number of arrests is characteristically high during Little 500 weekend, this is the one weekend where the courthouse is open Sunday morning, Minger said.\n"The local Court system has devised a special process to deal with people charged with alcohol offenses over the weekend of Little 500," according to the Student Legal Services Web site. "If you are cited over the weekend of Little Five for an alcohol offense, you will be ordered to appear for an initial hearing on Sunday, April 25 at 8:30 a.m." \nMany of the students arrested during this weekend were found doing road work Sunday morning across campus as part of the Pretrial Diversion Program. \nMinger said although the arrest numbers remain high, the enforcement is needed to ensure the safety of everyone in town for the weekend.\n"Consequently, I think it controls the situation, so it doesn't get out of hand," Minger said. "Quite frankly, we want everyone to have fun and for lots of people to come and enjoy the things Bloomington and IU has to offer."\n-- Contact staff writer Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.