Ever since Christopher Paquette took his post as New Hampshire State Liquor Commission investigator in 2003, scrutiny of underage drinking at Dartmouth has intensified.
Paquette regularly stops by Stinson's Village Store and even attends Greek events in his attempts to curtail campus alcohol consumption.
"We've been here since '78 and nowhere in any of the years have we consistently seen a liquor inspector as often," said store owner Jack Stinson. "Everything's a little tighter now."
Last fall, Paquette made an appearance at Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority's semiformal.
Although the sorority was following College policy and giving identification bracelets to those over 21, Paquette reportedly thought the party was in violation of state liquor license laws for its open bar.
"He wanted to know every detail about the way we were serving alcohol," said KDE president Katherine Heyman '05, who said she was questioned by Paquette for close to an hour.
"It was a little scary because he felt we were doing something totally illegal," she said.
While some students find it difficult to identify Paquette, who often appears out of uniform, Stinson and his employees said they know who he is.
"He's a very dapper fellow," said Tom Davidson, who works at Stinson's. "He usually dresses well. He stands out in a crowd."
For underage students looking to purchase alcohol illegally, however, Paquette might not be so easy to spot.
"He's not imposing. He hangs back. He won't assert himself unless he sees a violation," Stinson said.
Recent additions to New Hampshire state alcohol laws, such as the internal possession statute and a grant to the Hanover Police Department from the attorney general's office, have bolstered the efforts of law enforcement officials to combat underage drinking.
"We've had far too many incidences where there weren't consequences," said Kyle Metcalf, chief lieutenant of field operations.
Paquette, who was unavailable for comment, is the Liquor Commission's enforcement investigator for Grafton County. His jurisdiction includes two colleges, Dartmouth and Plymouth State University.
In 2004, 132 alcohol-related arrests were made in Grafton County, which has the fifth-largest population of New Hampshire's 10 counties. Hillsborough County, the state's largest, had 329 alcohol-related arrests in the same period.
As an enforcement officer, Paquette works in tandem with Hanover Police and campus Safety and Security to enforce the alcohol- and tobacco-related laws described in Title XIII of the State of New Hampshire Revised Statutes.
"We don't want anybody under 21 consuming alcohol. That's the bottom line," Metcalf said.
Metcalf said enforcement officers like Paquette are fully certified police officers, with all the powers of arrest held by municipal police officers and sheriffs.
In contrast to the perceived increase in enforcement at the College, neither of the two arrests of underage drinking that occurred this fall at Plymouth State University involved the liquor commission, according to John Clark, the chief of university police at Plymouth State.
Like College officials here, Clark emphasized the liquor commission's influence on his university's campus.
"Without that agency, there wouldn't be the level of enforcement out there that is needed to deal with the issues related to alcohol," Clark said. "We work very well with them."
Although investigators like Paquette devote a great deal of their time to college campuses, the liquor commission maintains that it does not train investigators to deal with college students differently than the general public.
"Every incident is fluid. It's always different," Metcalf said.
Yet some Dartmouth students raised concerns about Paquette's methods.
"I think it's tough for people to argue that he's unfair when he's enforcing the law, but the way he goes about doing it is very devious," David Grey '05 said.
Grey objected to Paquette's trapping people while dressed in plain clothes at Stinson's as well as trying to earn admission to Greek parties without College identification.
"It would be much more honest and upfront if he just hung out there in a cop uniform and didn't make other pretenses," Grey said.
