Police: Parents Should Keep Their Legal Obligations in Mind When Their Teens Host Parties

At this time of year, the Darien Police Department typically sees an increase in the number of calls for gatherings where minors are possessing and/or consuming alcohol.

This increase can be attributed to prom season, the end of the school year, and the return of college students to town. The Darien Police Department is taking this opportunity to remind parents and homeowners about the criminal and civil consequences of allowing or permitting the possession/consumption of alcohol by minors at their homes.

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— This announcement from the Darien Police Department was prepared by Youth Division Detective/Public Information Officer James Palmieri, who was, until recently, the school resource officer at Darien High School.

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Various social-host and underage-possession charges can be brought against any parent or homeowner who either actively participates in allowing minors to possess or procure alcohol or even passively allows the possession or consumption to take place.

One of the publicity materials published by the Thriving Youth Initiative of the Community Fund of Darien.

Most people are well aware that allowing minors to drink alcohol in their home is illegal, but many don’t realize that the law allows for criminal charges to be brought in situations where the police have sufficient legal and reasonable cause to believe that parents/property owners should have known that underage drinking is taking place.

An example of this would be allowing your minor child to have 20 of their friends over and for the group to be unsupervised in the basement of the home.

If police were summoned to the home, and determined that alcohol was being consumed in the basement by minors, the parents (or the person presently in charge of the property) could be charged if circumstances warrant a police officer to reasonably conclude that the parent or property owner was aware, or should have been aware, of the ongoing alcohol related activity.

The Darien Police Department suggests taking active steps to assure that any gatherings at your home, where minors are present, are safe, effectively supervised and alcohol free.

Checking on gatherings, knowing who’s in your home, and talking with your kids are examples of good first steps.

Taking these proactive measures ensures the safety of your children and their friends, and protects you from the potential criminal and civil consequences of alcohol being present without your knowledge.

See also:

• When Cops Arrive and Teens Flee Boozy Party, New Haven Line Train Traffic Is Halted (May 15)

• Police: Semi-conscious Girl, 16, Taken to Hospital After Teen Party with Booze (April 24)
• Teens Have Died from Binge Drinking in Darien: Police Officer at Panel Discussion (March 8)
• Commentary: Think Europe Has the Right Approach to Teen Drinking? Here’s Evidence They Don’t (March 16)
• Teen Drinking & Binge Drinking: Dr. Frank Bartolomeo’s Perspective (March 9)
• Drinking in Darien: Former School Resource Officer James Palmieri’s Perspective (March 8)
• Darien Health Dept: How Many of These Risks from Under-Age Drinking Do You Know? (Feb. 19)
• DHS Principal Ellen Dunn on Drugs, Drinking, Disciplining Students and What Parents Can Do (Feb. 12)
• DRINKING IN DARIEN: Worse than Elsewhere for Both Teens and Adults — and the Problem is Growing (Jan. 30)
• Group Launches Campaign to Counter Darien’s ‘Troubling Rate of Teenage Binge Drinking’ (Feb. 2)