Frequent and loud college parties worthy of police intervention may cost Sacramento State students a hefty fine if a proposal by the Alcohol Advisory Council gains community support.

The proposal, first introduced on March 7 at Sac State’s Alcohol Advisory Council meeting, would target the residents of homes that have loud parties throughout the city of Sacramento.

Under the proposal, if the police are called out to the same household more than once within a certain time period, that residence will be fined.

It’s known as a response cost ordinance, where the host of the party will be responsible for the cost of the police coming out to the residence. That cost would likely vary, depending on the number of police officers called out to a residence.

Two Northern California cities, Petaluma and Vallejo, have adopted similar ordinances targeting parties.

Heather Dunn Carlton, assistant director of Student Activities and chairwoman of the Alcohol Advisory Council, said the proposal is part of an overall prevention strategy to affect drinking behavior among students.

“Here at Sac State, it’s not about being prohibitionist,” Dunn Carlton said. “We want students to be responsible neighbors and make safe and responsible decisions.”

Dunn Carlton stressed that the proposal of disciplining house parties is very early in its discussion stages and a time frame for implementing the plan has not been discussed.

Sac State is one of 14 other California campuses, including six CSUs and eight UCs, that are looking at combating binge drinking in what’s called the Safer California Universities study.

The universities are working in conjunction with the Prevention Research Center, based in Berkeley, which heads the study and specializes in drug and alcohol behavior.

Rick McGaffigan, program director for the Safer California University study, said the Prevention Research Center surveyed 2,000 students over the last two years at the 14 universities about their attitudes toward alcohol.

“Our surveys focus on where students drink. The data indicates that it’s off-campus partying at Sac State,” McGaffigan said.

Residents who are fined would likely receive a notice in the mail and have the option to pay it by mail.

Other aspects of the prevention strategy would be working with the Sacramento Police Department in establishing more DUI checkpoints near campus.

The council also plans to get feedback from neighborhood associations near campus, such as College Glen and River Park.

Annette Deglow, president of the College Glen Neighborhood Association, said her biggest concern is that when a party is broken up, she doesn’t want students to be forced to drive away drunk.

The College Glen neighborhood consists of an area just east and south of Sac State, including most of La Riviera Drive and College Town Drive.

At one party last December, Deglow described an extreme example of a house party off La Riviera Drive that prompted 14 officers and 13 police vehicles to respond.

The total cost of that police response came to just over $2,000, according to a letter from Kevin McCarty, the Sacramento City Council member representing the area.

For the proposal to be implemented, the council would have to take the plan to the Sacramento City Council for approval.

If the plan were enforced throughout Sacramento County, then the County Board of Supervisors would have to vote on it.

Michelle Lazark, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department, was unaware of this particular proposal, but said that the police department already enforces a similar ordinance.

Lazark said that if police are called back to the same residence more than twice, the residence could be fined. Police could also confiscate possessions like stereo equipment, for example, that may be the source of the problem.

The new ordinance would differ from the existing one as it would target house parties rather than general police assistance calls.

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Greg Hyatt can be reached at [email protected]