Chief David Lindley of the Starkville Police Department said he wants to encourage students at Mississippi State University to exercise caution and be aware of the laws in place in the city of Starkville as the fall semester starts in order to stay safe and out of trouble.
“Each year at this time, we have young people get into some difficult situations and trouble because they are not aware of some of the things that may be enforced in the community that will give them problems,” he said.
Lindley said the majority of student offenses are alcohol or traffic related. 
“The two things that consistently get students in trouble more than anything else, along with other residents and visitors to the community, is alcohol consumption and traffic,” he said. “Often you have a combination of the two.”
He said the SPD is not looking to control students’ consumption of alcohol but rather to protect them from harm to themselves and others that may come from drinking.
 ”We realize that’s not realistic to expect abstinence on the part of all students, although that is the law,” he said. “A reasonable stance on our part is to help young people realize there are certain choices they make in the community and some of these choices, if they do decide to illegally consume or consume too much, could have consequences that are not particularly pleasant.”
He said he hopes students are aware of the decisions they are making, whether they are under the influence or not, and making sound judgments.
“I think what I want everybody to be aware of is they have to use good, appropriate judgment so they can keep themselves out of unnecessary trouble,” he said.
Lindley said the SPD has several specialized units focusing on alcohol-related offenses.
He said these units include a DUI squad of officers that works specifically on enforcing driving laws as they relate to the consumption of alcohol as well as a team of officers that works on MIP offenses.
Lindley said the DUI unit consists of two full-time officers who do nothing but work to enforce DUI laws.
He said there is also a group of officers who go into bars and restaurants to make sure the people consuming alcohol in those places are, in fact, of age to do so.
“A lot of fine young people get in trouble because they get fake I.D.s and they go out and drink or they drink too much,” he said. “This can lead to poor judgment and encounters with my officers.”
Lindley said the biggest mistake the SPD sees is the decision some people make to drink and drive.
“There are alternatives that we suggest people utilize,” he said. “We have cabs in our community, we have a night route that the university provides, those all help.”
He said he also encourages students to designate a driver who will not consume alcohol and be responsible for driving them safely where they need to go after a night out.
“It’s just a matter of proper planning ahead if people are going to go out and have a social evening or afternoon or event,” he said. “It’ll keep them out of a lot of trouble.”
Lindley said there are two things that can be counted on being used by the SPD.
These include radar to detect speeding vehicles and DUI enforcement.
Lindley said DUI roadblocks are often set up between bars in Starkville and bars, such as Cowbells, in the county because people leave Starkville bars, which close early, to continue their night where bars are still open.
“Every year we have tragedies where judgment is impaired by substances,” he said. “It’s something we try to avoid, we have a very low fatality rate for the number of people in our population and the way we keep it low is by being proactive and enforcing laws.”
Lindley said particularly during weekends when a home football game occurs, or any special event that takes place in the Starkville area, the number of officers on duty increases with the influx of people.
This also causes an increase in offenses.
“You do see an increase because everyone is enjoying a social activity; they want to have a good time,” he said. “There is also an increased number of officers enforcing the laws and people to break them.”
Lindley said the SPD has recently been seeing an increase in people mixing alcohol with prescription drugs.
The two officers who are specialized in DUI enforcement are also certified Drug Recognition Experts.
“Not only can they detect driving under the influence of alcohol but under the influence of drugs as well,” he said.
Lindley said his SPD officers take their job and obligation to protecting students and enforcing these alcohol and traffic laws in Starkville seriously.
“You can expect our officers to be very proactive in the community; we’re trying to warn people,” he said. “We do have to enforce the laws, and we will.”