PSU Police Requests Spring Fling Back-Up

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – It was only 6 short years ago that Plymouth State College students angrily rose up and rioted against police to fight for the annual Spring party festival known as Spring Fling.Mere days before Spring Fling kicks off and the campus and students are equally prepared for the upcoming festivities. As students struggle to finish their year-end work and prepare for finals the school is making arrangements for the upcoming events and taking their typical police precautionary measures for Spring Fling.It’s become a common routine for Spring Fling to be one of the largest weekends of the school year for partying. Jeff Baer, a fourth year Spring Fling veteran says he’s “looking forward to partying outside with my fellow PSU counterparts.”Spring Fling weekend is marked by an increase in population both of student guests as well as police officials. PSU University Police Chief, Chief Clark says to expect the usual variety of police to be present. Working collectively Campus police, Plymouth, Holderness, State, Local and County police will all be present to ensure a safe and enjoyable Spring Fling weekend both for the students of the University and local residents.The large amounts of Police also act as a deterrent to any criminal or disorderly behavior. It was only six years ago that Plymouth State tried to end the Spring Fling tradition and worked with police and landlords to end all partying on the weekend that would have been Spring Fling 98′. The attempt to stop this annual event by both the College and Police officials created resent amongst students leading to an off campus riot between local officials and over 500 students. A graduate of Plymouth State College Phil Paine remembers the incident and said “you could feel it all building up around you, then it just happened.” Students fought police by throwing bottles, rocks, and setting fire to buildings and furniture. The college received national news coverage and criticism for the melee.The University is now more accepting of Spring Fling. It has since become once again a school sponsored weekend of fun. There are still issues that the police are concerned with this coming weekend. According to Chief Clark police will be patrolling to break up gatherings of over 50 people, enforcing the noise violation policy, and certainly cracking down on any underage drinking.Recent laws make it much more severe for students to oppose some of the police restrictions. Last years internal possession law increases the likelihood that students will be asked for identification to show proof of age if they are displaying signs of intoxication. With respect to riots a law unanimously passed on February 5th made it a felony, rather than a misdemeanor to throw any object at a police officer, firefighter, or any medical personnel. This new law could have implications for students acting disorderly this coming weekend. The law states that there is a maximum penalty of seven years in prison for those convicted.Police are imposing no further restrictions such as road blocks or security checks on campus. If you are under the age of 21, act sober and keep your head down. All others celebrating the event should party responsibly and steer clear of law officials.