April 21, 2009

More "Drinking Games" in Barrington

Monique Chartier

At a minimum, the Barrington police need to present the Places with a bill for a police detail. Two hours times however many police officers were involved.

Be sure to add in the detective who placed the ultimately futile telephone calls to the parents, Chief.

John Place had called the police on April 10, the night of the party, and asked them to check on his house at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m. because he didn’t want teenagers partying at his house.

When the police responded to reports of a loud party, they could hear yelling, laughing and music coming from the basement. When the police lifted the exterior bulkhead door, they said that they were “immediately overcome with a pungent odor associated with alcohol.”

Detective Lt. Dino DeCrescenzo immediately called John Place’s cell phone number, which he had left with the police.

“I told him about the odor or beer and alcohol,” DeCrescenzo said in his report. “I told him that I wanted his son to let us in the house so we could check on the safety of all the underage persons, seize the alcohol and then call everyone’s parents to ensure their safety and well-being.”

* * *

After speaking with the police off and on for 40 minutes, Place said he didn’t want them entering his house.


ADDENDUM

As to the cost of a police detail, the Barrington Police advised this afternoon that the rate per hour varies depending upon the seniority of the officer taking the detail but that the range would be $38 - $50 per officer per hour and there is a four hour minimum. Accordingly, presuming three officers (two responding to the house and one detective back at HQ making the telephone calls to the Places in Maryland) for the Place "detail", the cost would be $456 - $600.

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"so we could check on the safety of all the underage persons"

Yes, I'm sure that's what they wanted ...

What parent would farm their kids out to the cops in a situation like this? "Sorry son, that you now have a record, or your graduation/college acceptance was screwed up, but I thought you needed a 'lesson'".

If you listen to the Barrington police chief, he said that, once they get permission to enter, anything and everything they see could/would be used to prosecute the people there. Underage? Well, off to court you go. Joint on the floor, off to prison.

Keeping you kids safe is job #1 for the parents, and I applaud their good sense in not letting the local cops make headlines for themselves at the cost of their childrens' futures.

Who are we to restrict the behaviour of adults (>18) in their own homes? And what kind of police state do you want with cops able to enter private homes to check the ages of all your guests?

Posted by: para at April 22, 2009 9:40 AM

For the record, Para, I am not one of those who advocated for the police to go busting in.

The bigger question is, why did the parents call in the police only to defer to their son in the handling of the matter?

Posted by: Monique at April 22, 2009 2:05 PM
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