The University of Idaho Argonaut

Raucous. That’s one way to describe last weekend’s football game between Boise State University and the University of Idaho.
“We had many more incidents than usual during that game,” said Lt. Dave Lehmitz of the Moscow Police Department, the campus liaison officer who oversaw police operations during the tailgating on Saturday.
“We want to have more of a presence in the future,” Lehmitz said. “We had five fights reported to us throughout the afternoon. With that many people, it was hard to break up a fight and take enforcement action from an officer safety standpoint. We’re not going to send an officer into the crowd to arrest someone.”
Lehmitz said he broke up three fights himself.

He also brought up the daylight savings adjustment, which caused it to be dark outside by 5 p.m.  It is harder to work at night, he said.
There were also several cases of public urination throughout the tailgate, as well as what Lehmitz called “an increased consumption of alcohol.”
“We handed out quite a few tickets and made several arrests for trespassing, disturbing the peace and minor in possession and consumption,” Lehmitz said.
He said the arrests made were toward people who were non-compliant with police. Those who cooperated were issued citations and then released.
In addition to the fights, citations and arrests, a car was damaged in excess of $1,000. Police don’t know who damaged it since it wasn’t reported until the owner of the vehicle discovered the damage. The car had been parked in lot 57.

Moscow police didn’t encounter anyone who had been driving under the influence of alcohol.
“The police were a good addition to the tailgate,” said ASUI Director of Activities Marie Fabricius.
Moscow police increased their presence at the tailgates starting at the beginning of the season.
“Last year I saw a lot of drunk drivers, “she said. “This year with the police, I didn’t see anyone drunk getting behind the wheel.”
Fabricius split up two different fights in the Kibbie Dome during the game. Both of the fights were between UI students. She said the fights in the parking lot seemed to involve both UI and BSU students.

“I wish we could focus more on Vandal pride than on attacking another university,” Fabricius said.
Lehmitz said in 2006, the last time the two teams met in Moscow, there was just as much activity as this year. In addition to the fights in the Kibbie Dome and the tailgates, Moscow police broke up several fights in local bars.
“Things went well in all of the games except for the BSU game,” Lehmitz said. “The large amount of alcohol consumption is a concern.”
In the future, Lehmitz plans on working with the university to better control the amount of alcohol present at tailgate functions.
“We need a new plan, as the current one is only to have a presence in the lot,” Lehmitz said.

He said the other tailgates this year had been a win-win situation, and the tailgating process needs some tweaking and refining for next year. One issue he brought up was the amount of garbage that is left behind. While it has been cut down from last year, there were still bottles left on the ground, which could potentially damage car tires.
After Winter Break, ASUI plans to discuss tailgating and think about possible changes that might need to be made, Fabricius said.
“Tailgating is an important part of Vandal and football tradition,” she said.
Fabricius mentioned she went to a football game at Illinois State University, and the tailgating there was “a lot worse” in terms of keeping order.