OSU PD Says Alcohol Sales During Football Season A Success

Oklahoma State has now experienced their first full football season selling alcohol inside the T. Boone Pickens Stadium. And although OSU PD faced a few changes, the number of alcohol-related instances decreased in the stadium. 

During the 2017 football season, campus police dealt with 72 alcohol-related contacts, including 11 arrests and three summons inside the gates on gameday.

This year, they had 42 alcohol-related contacts, including 11 arrests and two summons.

” Everything seemed to go really well. In fact, we called it a huge success after the West Virginia game,” Chief Leon Jones, with the Oklahoma State Police Department, said.

Campus police positioned officers near points of sale inside the stadium, which they believe helped deter fans from over-indulging.

The no-return policy also helped the numbers decrease.

“On our part, that was excellent for security inside the stadium,” Chief Jones said.

But, according to Oklahoma State officials, the number of alcohol-related incidents outside of the stadium increased.

“But that's because we were able to reallocate our resources outside, to try to combat some of the issues we had there,” Chief Jones said.

As college basketball season approaches, Jones says that OSU PD plans to analyze all input they received, and work on reallocating resources to areas that need more assistance.

The University of Oklahoma is starting up their pilot program regarding alcohol sales at sporting events. They are likely to see some security changes as well.