The Party Smart program allows students to register off-campus parties with the Grand Junction Police Department (GJPD) to avoid unnecessary tickets and fines.
Students can register their Friday and Saturday night parties, so that if they get a noise complaint, they will receive a warning call from police dispatch to shut down their party in 20 minutes.
“The police department does not have to come to shut down the party, and it avoids tickets being given out. This saves the students money with legal challenges, and it also saves the city resources, so that the police don’t have to come and shut down every single party every weekend,” Student Life Operations Manager Isabel Manzanares said.
Students can register their parties on the Presence application on MAVzone. Registration forms can be found under the Student Life page.
Students will need to enter the address of the house where the party will be held, and the contact information of both the party host and the co-host, including pictures of both driver’s licenses. This must be completed by Wednesday at noon of the week of the party to be valid.
Student Life will then look over the form to ensure all information has been filled in correctly, and that the house has not been blacklisted due to prior abuse of the Party Smart program or any general complaints filed to the GJPD.
The host and co-host will also have to complete a 20-minute training session with the on-campus police to go over different procedures after the registration goes through.
If any noise complaints are called in, GJPD will call the host and give them 20 minutes to kick people out and shut the party down. GJPD will respond to any additional noise complaints after that 20 minute window.
“I think this is a great way to avoid unnecessary interactions with the police. No one really wants to deal with cops showing up to a house party and ruining a good time. So, the Party Smart program encourages better relations between both students and cops,” junior business major Chris Kotris said.
It is important to note that the Party Smart program only applies to noise complaints. Any other type of report, such as underage drinking, will not result in a warning call before police dispatch comes to the house.
Students are encouraged to use this campus resource. Six parties have been registered this year, and six were registered last year when the program returned, after a brief COVID-19 hiatus.
