Warm weather and Homecoming weekend at Iowa State led to a slight increase in alcohol-related arrests last weekend, said Loras Jaeger, director of the Department of Public Safety.

DPS officers cited 18 people for underage alcohol possession in and around Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Jaeger said.

“That’s higher than what we usually do,” he said.

“One thing I think contributed to that was that a large number of people [who] stayed in the parking lots once the game started,” he said.

More DPS officials than usual were patrolling over the Homecoming weekend, Jaeger said, although he said he does not know if more people drank during the celebration.

Ames Police Sgt. Randy Kessel also said he thought DPS made many arrests around the stadium.

“Our arrests have dropped inside the stadium since alcohol has been banned,” Kessel said.

Kessel said the weekend’s arrests were not entirely out of the ordinary.

“I didn’t see anything phenomenally larger than what we’ve had other weekends,” Kessel said.

“We’re always busy with alcohol-related offenses,” he said.

Jaeger said 18 citations may seem like a lot, but considering that there are more than 25,000 students at ISU and about 40,000 people were at the football game, it is not that high of a number.

“Everyone had a good time,” Jaeger said. “Most people didn’t drink, and if they did drink, it was legally and responsibly.”

Kessel also said that although more than 60 percent of arrests on weekends are alcohol-related, it did not look as if there was a large increase this weekend.

Kessel said the Ames Police Department did not have more officers than usual patrolling last weekend.