Graduation-Night Drinking Issues Few in Apple Valley, Police Say

Graduation nights around Minnesota could seem like a prevalent time for drinking and driving, and in turn, serious consequences.

But the Apple Valley hasn’t experienced significant graduation-night issues in many years, Chief Scott Johnson said. The department will send extra officers to graduation ceremonies, but that’s mostly for traffic control help, he said.

“Beyond that we just don’t have the problems in this community,” Johnson said, saying graduation nights don’t yield an uptick in car crashes.

Johnson credits Apple Valley’s high schools and the parents who host all-night graduation-night parties with making the nights safer.

“The parties are fantastic,” Johnson said. “That’s where most of our graduates spend graduation nights.”

Most county sheriffs also don’t step up patrols specifically to coincide with graduation nights, but they are aware that underage drinking and DUIs are possible when new graduates and friends get together to celebrate.

“We always see an increase in impaired drivers and fatal crashes when the warm weather rolls around every year,” says Lt. Eric Roeske, public information officer for the Minnesota State Patrol. “But obviously enforcement can take us only so far,” he added. “We can’t enforce our way out of this stuff; it’s got to be a change in the way people think and set priorities that will make a true impact.”

There were 32,756 impaired driving incidents in 2009 in Minnesota, an 8 percent decrease over the previous year. Drivers under the age of 21 accounted for 8 percent of those incidents.

“A lot of kids don’t think anything bad is going to happen to them—it’s always somebody else,” said Sgt. Mark Hlady of the Rice County Sheriff’s office. “They need a reminder that things can happen in an instant.”

The state patrol has programs in place in which officers visit schools and educate students about the decisions they make as both drivers and passengers, Roeske says.

Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows praised the all-night post-graduation parties that more schools host each year. But he says the most effective tool is still communication.

“Parents are taking a more progressive role in making sure that kids don’t have access to alcohol, and that’s a real positive,” Bellows said. “It’s important to know where your kids are going, and if they’re going to a party, make sure that alcohol won’t be included.

“And if a kid does drink, make sure there’s a safety net, that he or she can call home and get a ride. I’m not sanctioning underage drinking—it’s still wrong—but we have to drive home the idea that drinking and driving don’t mix.”

Johnson said occasionally a graduation party later during summer will get out of hand, and police will enforce accordingly. There’s zero tolerance for underage drinking, and Apple Valley also has a social host ordinance to prosecute people who buy and provide alcohol to underagers.

The Northfield High School liaison officer in Rice County keeps an ear to the ground and pays advance visits on homes where parties are being planned, Hlady said. He recalled speaking to one set of parents who were planning to be out of town when the party was scheduled, and they appreciated the heads up, he said.

In Washington County, the sheriff’s office uses Facebook to get the word out about the dangers of underage drinking and driving while impaired, Sgt. Kyle Schenck said. In addition, the office has school resource officers who talk to students about making good decisions.

Ultimately, Bellows said, parents and teens should be aware of the consequences of their actions.

“Graduation should be a time of celebration, and we don’t want to see it turn into a time of tragedy,” he said. “We deal with this very, very seriously.”