How to avoid getting an MIP

Question

I am a sophomore in college and school is right around the corner. So many times when i drink (I am 19 so under-age) I am very paranoid about the police. If they police bust a party and tell everyone to leave and i have nothing on my BUT have been drinking (not that the cops know about) and they then ask me questions and i say absolutly nothing they can't do anything to me right?

Answer 1

You say paranoid....... an officer can smell that nervousness a mile away. Stand there and say nothing? You might as well take a marker and write "I have been drinking" on your forehead.

So say the police bust a party of say 50. The officers already know everybody has been drinking and just want to bust it up. They are usually only going after the worst offenders. The guy who answers questions and says "yes I have had a couple", speaks clearly, adopts body language of respect, says yes sir and no sir.......they may say just go home. If busted things will go better in court.

The guy who does not speak? They figure that he has something to hide and we will teach his little butt a lesson. ANY percentage is a MIP and all they have to do is break out the breathalyzer.

Same story that has played out a million times in many years and in many places.  

Answer 2

The police can only place you under arrest if they either have an arrest warrant, or reasonable cause to suspect that you have committed a crime. You are correct in saying that you are under no obligation whatsoever to say anything to the police. However, if you smell like alcohol or seem very drunk, they would have reasonable cause and might arrest you.

The best way to handle this situation were it to occur would be to simply leave and cooperate with the police, as quietly and subtly as possible.

Another way to avoid this, of course, is the obvious answer: to not drink until you are over the age of twenty-one.  

Answer 3

The Police may charge you for any crime that they have Probable Cause for.  That means if they smell alcohol on your breath, you have blood shot eyes, you're unsteady on your feet, etc. They can charge you with drinking under age.  Standing there and not talking to them is only going to make you look guiltier (and drunker) then you already are.  

For the vast majority of us it's not going to be our first day on the job when you run into us.  If you try something like you described you're only going to make it worse.

If you don't want to get charged with drinking under age then wait two more years before you drink.