Although there were fewer arrests for possession of alcohol underage during the weekend Veishea celebration, the total number of people cited or arrested went up this year.

“We were more liberal this year,” said Ames Police Sgt. Jim Robinson. “For the possession of alcohol underage, we cited more individuals this year than we arrested.”

Citations for possession of alcohol underage totaled 264 over the extended Veishea weekend, compared to last year’s total of 204 citations. This year, 39 people were actually arrested for underage possession, down three from the 42 arrested during Veishea 1996.

The total number arrested by Ames police this year was 145 people. Arrests and citations combined, 410 people had “unfortunate” run-ins with Ames police over the Veishea weekend. Iowa State Department of Public Safety officers cited or arrested an additional 154 people.

Robinson said the standard practice was to cite and release minors caught drinking.

Ames police arrests for public intoxication were down from 80 to 75 this year.

Robinson said even though Saturday’s Kiss concert “dumped out an additional 12,000 to 12,500 people at a particular hour” there were few reports of problems or disturbances caused by concert-goers.

“Up until the incident of the homicide, we thought it had gone very smoothly,” Robinson said. “There is, however, a major problem of alcohol abuse throughout the evening hours.”

Ames police reports indicate that 108 of the arrests and citations were products of Ames residents, while 163 nonresidents were arrested or cited.

The 1997 Veishea arrests and citations are preliminary figures. A final count is expected later in the week.