Excise police arrest 218 during Super Bowl week

Indiana Excise Police made 218 arrests in Indianapolis during the week leading up to the Super Bowl.

Plainclothes Indiana Excise Police officers made 120 arrests for illegal consumption or possession of alcohol between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5.

The game brought national spotlight to the city.

Sunday’s game  brought people to Indianapolis from around the state and the country throughout the week for the game and pre and post game events and concerts.
Excise officers cited 35 people for underage possession of tobacco and 18 for providing alcohol to a minor.

Additionally, there were 11 arrests for fake IDs and 10 for possession of marijuana.

Excise Cpl. Travis Thickstun said the 218 violations are slightly higher than usual for Indianapolis.

“It was more, but not outrageous, for the number of people at the Super Bowl,” he said. “I’d characterize it as a fairly tame crowd.”

At IU football tailgates, 30 to 60 arrests are typically made by excise police.

 Even though there were more excise officers in Indianapolis last week than there usually are in Bloomington for IU tailgates, the number of visitors arrested  compared to of that during a home football game wasn’t high.

“We just didn’t see as much underage drinking this weekend,”
Thickstun said.

— Michael Auslen