By Staff 7-27,2015
The Cheyenne Police Department issued 105 citations for underage drinking violations during the eight nights of enforcement at the Cheyenne Frontier Day’s night shows.
The Cheyenne Police had extra staffing at Frontier Park this year to enforce the underage drinking laws.
The overtime salaries of the officers were paid by a grant from the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police; thus, resources were not taken from other police responsibilities. Additionally, officers from the Laramie Police Department assisted with enforcement at CFD.
CFD followed the rules of responsible alcohol sales and passed all of their compliance checks, which were conducted with the use of covert underage buyers who would attempt to purchase alcohol. All of the underage drinking violators obtained their beer from family members, friends, or with fake identification.
Approximately half of those issued citations were from out of town, which required their parents to respond to the park from areas such as Denver and Casper. Cheyenne Police Chief Brian Kozak said, “What was shocking to me was that most of those arrested for underage drinking had driven to the park and planned on driving away. I am certain that our proactive approach prevented DUIs and saved several lives. This enforcement validates that we have a serious issue with underage drinking in Wyoming.” The Police Department will work with CFD during the next year to develop additional strategies to reduce underage drinking at next year’s show.
The CPD uniformed park detail made only one arrest this year for fighting; whereas, in the past CPD would average 10-25 arrests for fighting. The park detail issued another 13 citations for violations such as public intoxication and domestic violence. The police department attributes the decreased violence to the proactive alcohol control measures that were taken this year in collaboration with CFD volunteers.
