Trend of mild State Patty’s Day in State College continues, police say
State Patty’s Day has been regarded as a ruinous booze drinking holiday for more than a decade, but a series of bold initiatives and stronger enforcement has curbed it for the past eight years.
That yearslong trend continued over the weekend, according to State College police and data provided by Centre LifeLink EMS.
Centre LifeLink EMS responded to 49 calls — 15 more than last year — between 6 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday, the organization said Monday.
About 28 calls were alcohol-related this year, up from about 25 alcohol-related calls in 2019, the organization said. Emergency personnel responded to an average of about 33 alcohol-related calls during State Patty’s Day the past seven years.
State College and Penn State police have not yet compiled official 2020 data, but borough police Lt. Greg Brauser said the weekend was “uneventful.” No major incidents were reported.
The departments expects to release its statistics by Friday.
The unsanctioned debauchery associated with the student-created holiday started in 2007. Arrests and citations mushroomed until 2011, with 309 handed out by State College and Penn State police.
A slight decrease — 303 arrests or citations — were reported in 2012, followed by a “dramatic decrease” — 188 — in 2013, a joint State College and Penn State report said.
Sixty-one arrests or citations were made in 2019, marking an about 80 percent decrease from its peak.
The borough and university implemented several measures to mitigate the damage associated with State Patty’s Day, including paying bars to close in 2013.
That effort was later ditched, but community leaders in recent years have asked area landlords to discourage the revelry.
Many who participated in the holiday were not from State College and were visiting students and residents, the borough wrote in a February letter sent to landlords and their tenants.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 3:49 PM.