In response to the blitzkrieg of electronic messages circulating campus last night about local police enforcement of alcohol possession laws, Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said media coverage has blown the police actions out of proportion.
Giaccone also said the information passing among students is wrong.
Yesterday, a BlitzMail message that circulated widely and caused much talk among students, informed readers of a "new" Hanover Police policy concerning how police arrest and charge underage, intoxicated students.
The message said police "are going to be randomly picking people up, who look the least bit drunk, and making them take a breathalyzer. If they show the SLIGHTEST bit of alcohol ... they will be ARRESTED."
Giaccone said last night police only stop people if they have reason to suspect an underage person is intoxicated. He added that the breathalyzer test is rarely administered to people before arrest and that such a use is restricted to specific situations.
The BlitzMail message was a response to an Associated Press news story released Sunday night about an alleged new Hanover Police policy, which is in fact seven years old. The Boston Globe, USA Today and other national newspapers ran the story, which was also picked up by local and Boston television and radio stations.
He said an officer must have "noticed something in [people's] personal behavior that has called attention to themselves" and be able to articulate his perception in court.
Giaccone cited stumbling, vomiting, hiding a beer can as grounds for approach, but leaving a fraternity house is not.
The breathalyzer test, generally not given before a person is taken into protective custody, is used to determine whether or not the detainee has alcohol in the bloodstream, he said.
Giaccone said seven years ago Hanover Police began using "internal possession" of alcohol as evidence in cases where a person is charged with underage possession of alcoholic beverages -- a violation under New Hampshire law.
Although he said some New Hampshire courts do not accept this type of evidence, the Hanover District Court has allowed it and nobody has ever appealed it to a higher court.
The AP reported that the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union received a complaint from a Dartmouth student about the policy and is considering whether to take further action. The NHCLU could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Giaccone said an individual has the right to refuse the breathalyzer test but said police do not have to by law inform people of this right.
During the summer, The Dartmouth reported an incident when police administered the test to students approached on the street.
Giaccone said police used a hand-held breathalyzer unit two or three times during the summer. In all the cases, Giaccone said an officer who encountered a group of students smelling as if they had been drinking used the test to determine which of the students had consumed alcohol.
In addition to showing possession, police must prove consumption occurred in Hanover and that the drinking was consensual in order to charge detainees of underage possession of alcoholic beverages, Giaccone said.
