Can only go by my own experience, but I think there has been a real noticeable tightening of the screws over the past few years. I, like many others above, have little sympathy for those who are less than disrespectful to law enforcement, and if you are any less than respectful and co-operative when confronted, then I guess you bear the consequences for what you get. But what I have seen is just an ever-increasing trend for the cops to confront anybody who looks like they're having a good time, at least around here. It used to be if the kids around the game were drinking and having a good time, there were never any real hassles unless you were really out of control, or violent towards someone else. Here's an example.
Don't know if anyone else here is old enough to remember, but in the late 70's and early 80's, the "Five Points" was at the corner of South Bend Ave. and Eddy St. There were bars on every corner--Bridgett McGuire's, Corby's (the old Corby's), Nicki's, and The Commons. On Saturday nights of home games, they used to just close the streets because the whole area would be filled with partying students, both inside and outside of the bars. Anyway, some guy decided to set up a "Great American Hot Dog Stand" in the parking lot outside Nicki's. A few buddies and I were walking through the crowds on our way to Bridgett's (after drinking and whatever else we were doing all day) and there was a police officer standing next to the hot dog stand munching on a dog and surveying the scene. In my inebriated state, I just thought that was funny and I started yelling from across the street "Here I stand...At the hot dog stand...With my hot dog in my hand!!!!!" We all just thought that was the most hilarious thing we had ever heard, so I just kept yelling it louder and louder as we made our way through the crowd, while we were laughing uproariously. Next thing I knew, both of my arms were in the grasp of two other police officers who had come from nowhere out of the crowd. They said something like "you guys think that's funny, huh?" I, of course,answered "Well, yeah, kind of." So, they asked us how much we had had to drink and where we were going and they told us, no we were not going to Bridgetts, we were going home, and they better not see us out anymore that night. We politely agreed, and then snuck through the crowd and went into the back door at Bridgetts to drink the rest of the night away. No further problems. I get the feeling from what I have read, though, that if anything even close to that happened today, we would have probably just been arrested and that would have been the end of it.
My point is, I guess, that this area (not just South Bend) seems to have gotten much more uptight as concerns kids drinking and having a good time than it used to be. And I do think it is geo-centric to an extent. You know, if you go down to Savannah, Georgia sometime the whole of River Street is lined with bars. Every bar has a stack of plastic cups sitting out, because it is perfectly legal, if you get tired of sitting in one place, you can take your drink with you and walk around the sidewalks with it. And that is about what it amounts too, people walking around, drinking, and having a good time. Been there several times, and seen some pretty lit people, but so long as they aren't giving anybody else a hard time, the cops don't bother them. I've seen two episodes of COPS where the Savannah police were called because someone complained about someone being too drunk, and both times they just talked to them and told them to cool it and let them go on their merry way. As opposed to other areas of the country (like increasingly here, it seems) where if the police think you have been drinking, they'll look for any excuse to make that arrest.
Just my observations, for what they are worth.
