The weekend has finally arrived. As the clock passes 9 p.m. an Eastern student receives a text message, “We’re waiting for you outside.” The student grabs his keys and coat then heads out the door.

Next on the agenda: House parties.

After a short walk, the student enters the house. The roar of the music and sound of a crowd explodes in his ears. A couple of hello hugs are exchanged, along with $5 for the shiny red Solo cup, the one he has been waiting for all week. A short wait in a line full of North Face jackets, a couple of pumps and the student has obtained the first drink of the night. Drinks one, two and three go down well, until the foam of the fourth cup hits the floor when the dreadful word is heard throughout the suddenly hushed crowd: Cops.

The cops have arrived and majority of the crowd is under the age of 21.

Despite what reaction and instinct tells an underage person to do, Lt. Brad Oyer of the Charleston Police Department said the best thing to do is to answer the door, talk to the cops and see where things go from there. If the door is not answered, the officer has the option to receive a search warrant if they have reason to believe illegal activity is happening inside. If not, the offender can be cited at a later date.

“The best thing to do is talk to the officer, fix the problem. But by all means, not answering the door does not look good,” Oyer said.

Oyer said the police department normally receives phone calls about house parties from neighbors complaining about people running through their yards.

Some students believe the party is a safety zone if signs are put up stating the drinking age, and an orange fence is put up around the property.

“This is absolutely not true,” Oyer said. “If people are putting up an orange fence that keeps people out of other people’s yards, that’s a good thing, but when you have a gathering at your house, you are responsible for what your guests are doing.”

The signs will not give the house immunity either.

“You cannot sell to anybody without a liquor license,” Oyer said. “It is the residents’ responsibility to make sure they are not supplying alcohol to people under the age of 21. That means they cannot give alcohol to anyone they don’t know for certain is 21 without carding them.”

Every incidence is investigated, but ultimately, if underage people are drinking the residents are on dangerous ground, Oyer said.

If citations are issued, the police officers will ask questions to put on record, issue the tickets and take the offender’s photograph.

The residents of the house where the party was located will be cited for serving alcohol to minors, and the minors will be cited with acceptance of alcohol.

The police officers formerly took the offenders to the police station to have his or her photograph taken, but now the officers have digital cameras to take with them.

“In any investigation you want to do the best you can to identify the people involved and collect any evidence to use in the future,” Oyer said. “It’s standard in any situation to take pictures of the people you are processing.”

Less than an hour later the party guests have scattered, the underage attendee with a citation in hand. He must now go home and make the dreadful call to his parents in the morning.

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7943 or at kzyskowski@eiu.edu