Everyone on the Hill knew Operation Prevent was coming, long before students did.

The Syracuse Area College Community Coalition, formed in 1997, has provided a forum for bar owners, local universities, state agencies and law enforcement to discuss alcohol and drug policy, as well as an ever-expanding agenda of relevant issues.

‘(Bar owners) knew well in advance that we were coming, and they were aware we were going to enforce the underage drinking initiative,’ said Trooper Jack Keller, co-chair of the coalition. ‘It’s not so much about trying to get as many arrests as possible, but more about education. We don’t want to shut the bars down, but we want underage students to realize that if they go in a bar, they’re going to get arrested.’

Operation Prevent is considered one of the group’s most successful programs, developed and funded by members of the coalition.

‘It’s a rare case that you can find such a diverse group of people together,’ Keller said. ‘We have bar owners, law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, the state liquor authority – it’s not like we’re a group that meet secretly at all. We invite everyone out there way in advance.’

The coalition – which includes five bars, three colleges, the New York State Liquor Authority and a number of other agencies – meets once a month in the university area, focusing on increasing community involvement and reducing the effects of alcohol and other high-risk practices on students and residents, said Laura Madelone, co-chair of the coalition and director of SU’s Off-Campus Student Services.

By encouraging discussion among the parties involved in regulating bars in the university area, members of the coalition can discuss measures to minimize the risk to bars, adopt policies and programs that address underage drinking and provide direction for future efforts to minimize drug and alcohol use.

‘It’s an ongoing effort to educate students, bars and restaurants, and, to some degree, enforcing the existing laws to hold people accountable for their own actions,’ said Tim Hunt, a coalition member and head of ‘I’m SMART,’ a risk management company that focuses on training bar employees to reduce the likelihood of underage sales or injury to intoxicated patrons.

‘From a real practical point of view, we come in and explain those risks with some ways to minimize those risks,’ Hunt said. ‘The role of the coalition is very similar in that their focus is actually to reduce risk amongst the college age population.’

In the past, the coalition has helped bars understand new laws, such as a 1999 state law that regulated alcohol sales advertising and regulates what prices can be offered as ‘specials.’

‘Unfortunately, some bars, I think, either get punished or tainted because students are using very good or sophisticated IDs to enter the bars, and that leaves them exposed to liability,’ Hunt said. ‘By making students aware, particularly of the risks of selling and distributing fake IDs, (the coalition) has lowered that risk.’

Education efforts include pamphlets, posters and programming such as the annual crash dummy simulation on Marshall Street. Hunt said that over the course of the coalition’s existence, incidents caused by alcohol have lessened in number and severity.

‘There has been a very strong emphasis placed on the bars and restaurants, and I don’t think that is bad, but this is not a problem solely to be put on the bars and restaurants’ shoulders,’ Hunt said. ‘There are areas that need to be looked at: off-premise retailers, grocery stores, keg, liquor, off-campus parties.’

Members of the coalition said that the group will seek to add other liquor outlets, including Armory Square bars and liquor or grocery stores to their dialog to broaden the effort to curb drinking, as well as inform students of the risks and responsibilities of holding house parties.

‘There is definitely a focus on that, but overall, the main theme would be making students aware of their responsibility as not only a party host but a party attendee, or a bar patron,’ said Marisa Craybas, an SU representative to the coalition. ‘There is a certain amount of responsibility that students should take in all those roles.’

Other coalition members said efforts had to go beyond alcohol.

‘I’m for all they’re doing on alcohol, 1,000 percent, but I think coming up is the drug issue,’ said Harry Lewis, a coalition member and head of the South East University Neighborhood Association.

But, Lewis said, the coalition should begin focusing its efforts on curbing illegal drug sale and use in the university area despite the difficulties in estimating how widespread or dangerous the drug trade on the Hill is.

‘I think in the coalition, we know so much about alcohol, and there are dollars behind it, we don’t want to get into the drug deal,’ Lewis said. ‘Sometimes action follows the money.’

Coalition members, however, said the program has been effective.

‘I remember when I used to see people on the corner of the streets, trashed and puking,’ said Chris Raslan, general manager of Maggie’s Tavern and a coalition member. ‘But I can tell you confidently that I see 70 to 80 percent of these problems eliminated.’

In addition, Raslan said the programs promoted by the coalition, such as Operation Prevent, are effective and positive.

‘I believe in my heart that Operation Prevent is for the better of the students’ welfare and well-being in the community, and is there to enforce the law and find out who is running a bad show or a good show,’ Raslan said. ‘They’re not here to put people out of business’

Other coalition members, however, predicted that only so much can be done using the current methods of education and caution.

‘I think that we constantly have to be looking at the bigger pictures, there’s only so much you can do with supply. There will always be a demand to party,’ Hunt said. ‘But the demand is a bigger, longer term thing we have to deal with, and is always changing.’

The next coalition meeting will take place sometime after graduation, when members will discuss new methods and directions for the upcoming academic year.

Published on April 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm