OPD says weekend was busy
Published 11:56 am Monday, September 14, 2015
While having 100 arrests on a home football game weekend isn’t unheard of for local law enforcement, one trend this weekend has Oxford Police officials concerned.
Maj. Jeff McCutchen said there were a handful of felony arrests this weekend on the Square.
“Most were the result of an open container (of alcohol) or public intoxication,” McCutchen said. “Then during the arrest, the officer would discover narcotics.”
Details of those arrests won’t be available until the suspects are formally charged later today at Justice Court.
“Seeing the increase of felony arrests concerned me,” he said. “We always have a lot of arrests after a game but they’re mostly misdemeanor offenses.”
Overall, McCutchen said the weekend was a little busier for law enforcement than last weekend’s first home game, with arrests hitting the 100 mark.
“It was on par with a typical home game weekend. It picked up a little more than last week but there was nothing really out of the ordinary or significant,” McCutchen said. “We had a few fights and a lot of wrecks.”
Officers responded to 23 wrecks. Some were more serious than others, but none were fatal.
“We had several that involved alcohol,” McCutchen said. “That’s not something we want to see a lot of.”
Some tied up traffic or blocked lanes.
On Friday a wreck at University Avenue and Highway 7 blocked the eastbound, left lane for about 25 minutes. Another wreck at about 5 p.m. Friday at University Avenue and South 14th Street blocked traffic for 55 minutes, blocking all westbound lanes. On Saturday, a wreck at 6:34 p.m. blocked the eastbound lane for about 50 minutes.
McCutchen said traffic moved quickly after the game — as well it can after 60,000-plus fans leave campus.
“Traffic flowed pretty well after the game. Jackson was tied up for a bit, but the highway and Molly Barr flowed well,” McCutchen said.
Most of the arrests were alcohol related, with 26 people charged with open container of alcohol on city streets and 40 charged with public intoxication.
University of Mississippi Police also were kept busy with 12 people arrested for public drunkenness. One man was arrested for public drunkenness, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and having a fake identification. Two were charged with fighting and being drunk, and 12 citations were written to individuals under 21 being in possession of alcohol. For a complete list of arrests and criminal reports, see Page 3.