The Syracuse Police Department issued an unusually high number of tickets in Syracuse University neighborhoods this weekend, Department of Public Safety Chief Anthony Callisto confirmed.

The citations issued were for drinking alcohol in public, hosting nuisance parties and noise violations, Callisto confirmed.

More DPS and SPD units than usual were patrolling off-campus neighborhoods Friday and Saturday evenings, Callisto said. The patrol increase came after residents living in neighborhoods east of the university complained to SPD and the mayor’s office during the last few weekends, he said.

‘There were extra units working last night, so it’s not surprising there were more tickets issued,’ Callisto said.

Sgt. Tom Connellan of SPD could not confirm details as of Sunday night.

This is the first weekend of the academic year that there has been such an increase in officers patrolling university neighborhoods, Callisto said. That number is expected to remain high for next weekend, he said.

There were 39 tickets issued early Sunday morning, The Post-Standard reported. As of Sunday night, Callisto could not confirm how many people received tickets, or how many were SU students.

All of the citations were issued by SPD, Callisto said. But if SPD increases the number of patrols in a university neighborhood, DPS mirrors that by sending out more cars.

The Post-Standard published an article Sunday with the names, ages and addresses of those ticketed, citing SPD reports.

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on September 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm