Spring break. Vacations. Crowds. And with those things comes crime. For many tourist spots in Utah, spring break for high schools means overtime for police. Crime, always a concern, becomes even more common in tourist spots with increased numbers of teenagers.
Alcohol-related violations are by far the most frequent during spring break. "There are certainly many more alcohol-related cases involving teenagers," said St. George police Capt. Kelly Larsen in a telephone interview. He went on to explain that "there are three times as many alcohol cases as usual" involving underage drinking, during the week when most high school students are out of school.Teens caught drinking are arrested and taken to a holding area until they are sober and a guardian comes in to pick them up. There are slight increases in tobacco violations and drug possession cases, as well, he said.
Prevention is an important priority to combat possible criminal activity during spring break. In an effort to deal with the large crowds, many additional support units, such as bike officers and patrol cars, are called in to help and many police officers work extended shifts. "Ninety-nine percent of the people are OK, but we don't want anything to get out of control," Larsen said. "We just want to make it a safe environment for everyone."
There are many teenagers who go out of town for vacation, but there are just as many who find activities and amusement in the city. According to Salt Lake police data analyst Dave Doepner, there is not a direct correlation between increase in arrests and spring break in Salt Lake City. There is, however, a slight increase in crime during the spring season, but he attributes that to the fact that "more people are outside. They have more opportunities to interact with one another and disagree."
Rates of specific crimes, including those involving alcohol and tobacco, stay almost normal. "The only thing we can't catch (teens for during spring break) is truancy."
Teenagers in the city, during spring break and in general, are not involved in as many crimes as adults. Salt Lake police records show that in March 1998, there were 263 juvenile arrests, while there were 1,817 adult arrests in the same month. In March 1999, 182 juveniles were arrested and 1,776 adults were arrested. "There are only a small number of high school students in comparison to the general population," Doepner went on to say.
Doepner said "It's really easy to generalize about teens, saying they cause so much trouble. In reality, most of the teens and general population are doing the right thing."
Ethel Tovar is a student at West High School.