In an effort to warn some partiers of laws regarding potential house party activity, Carbondale police say they are visiting several houses to help keep neighborhoods quiet and crime free.

Chad Parker, a senior in art from Joliet, said he was woken up around 10 a.m. on Oct. 6 by two officers who warned him not to have any more parties because a number of complaints had been made.

Parker said he was visited again around 6 p.m. the same day by an officer who gave him another warning and told him that next time he had a party he would be ticketed for anything and everything.

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I don’t know if that’s an invasion of privacy or what, but I think it’s wrong, Parker said.

Parker said the officer had a list of names and addresses with him and was stopping at various houses on the street.

Carbondale police chief Don Strom said houses that have a history of citations for such things as trash and sale of alcohol without a license are recorded on what he calls a party log.

These are houses with a history of previous citations, Strom said.

Strom said officers stop at houses with previous citations to let the residents know what the laws are and that they have to act responsibly.

Brandon Krejci, an undecided senior from Schaumburg, said the police have been stopping by his residence off and on for the past three weeks. He said the police told him not to have any parties because extra police forces were going to be out until Halloween.

Strom said Halloween has nothing to do with officer’s visiting houses which are recorded on the party log.

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Krejci said he is tired of the police stopping by, because he is 21-years-old and knows what he is responsible for.

It’s an invasion of something, Krejci said. This towns a joke.

Priddy said the police cannot stop people from having parties, but they can tell people the city ordinances and inform them about what they are responsible for.

We can’t tell someone not to have a party, Priddy said.

Priddy said if the police sense that a party is in progress, an officer will be sent out to inform the residents of the city ordinances. Priddy said if a complaint is made and officers return to a residence that was previously warned, an arrest will usually result.

If we go back a second time they’ll get arrested, Priddy said. Normally, if nobody calls we don’t stop by.

However, Priddy said officers will stop at a party without a complaint if they suspect people are charging for beer.

Priddy said providing alcohol to a minor and selling alcohol without a license are two main reasons why tickets are given at parties, and the maximum city ordinance fine is $500. He said an officer could give a single person five tickets for providing alcohol to a minor, but they usually do not.

I don’t know if we have ever done that, Priddy said.

Jason Erickson, a junior in marketing from Schaumburg, said he believes the police stop at parties for the sake of breaking them up. Erickson said he too has been visited by the police on a Friday and was warned not to have parties.

Erickson said he and his roommates have received numerous tickets from the police.

During a large party he had, Erickson said he asked police officers how he could avoid being ticketed. He said the the police told him to have private parties inside his residence.

Priddy said many people walk around town and look for parties to go to, and the people having the party end up with a lot of strangers in their house. He said large parties make residents vulnerable to theft.

We encourage people not to be afraid to turn people away, Priddy said.