Social Media Played Big Role in Alcohol Awareness During Unofficial

Some encouraging news to report about this year’s Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day in Champaign-Urbana. According to The Champaign Police Department, 210 tickets were issued, which is down by a hundred compared to last year.

Meanwhile, service calls and medical transportations were fairly consistent from last year.

Champaign Mayor Don Gerard credits this year’s results to efforts letting people know about the dangers of excessive drinking. He said the use of social media by law enforcement and the general public played a big role in that outreach.

“I think we did a really nice job this year, and I think it would like to grow,” Gerard said. “I would like to expand it and really see a lot of student organizations getting in there as well, and I think they were. We saw the results, and I think we could do even better next year.”

During the Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day event, Mayor Gerard also regulated the sale of alcohol, and restricted entrance into bars.

Law enforcement agencies performed underage compliance checks on nearly 140 licensees, and found that there were six sales of alcohol to minors.