“Students being brought out of the club were in tears. They were in handcuffs, and I knew that I needed to get inside and let their friends know what was going on,” said Michael Gilmer, describing a Thursday evening earlier this month outside the popular night club The Kennedy.
On April 7, Gilmer, a judicial coordinator within the University of Tampa’s Office of Student Conduct, went on a “ride-along” with ABT (Florida’s division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco) and the Sheriff’s Alcohol Vendor Enforcement (S.A.V.E).
He wanted to gain a firsthand view of how they are preventing underage drinking and the possession of false identification.
S.A.V.E. was started in 2006 to help reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents in Hillsborough County. The program’s main activity is enforcing drinking-age laws by doing compliance checks in Tampa clubs and bars. During the checks, officials focus on making sure minors are not being served alcohol and that patrons are carrying valid identification.
Officers from S.A.V.E, as well as enforcement from ABT, have recently noticed an increase in UT students under the age of 21 drinking in clubs and, in many cases, carrying fake IDs.
“[ABT] were the ones that contacted us to let us know what was going on,” said Gilmer.
UT campus security officers have also noticed a prevalence of underage drinking and possession of fake IDs on campus.
During the past academic year, weekly campus security reports stated that there were more than 50 incidents in which students under the age of 21 were caught in possession of alcohol. Fourteen of these cases resulted in the confiscation of fake IDs.
Representatives from ABT and S.A.V.E. have visited UT, as part of what Gilmer called a “task force” with the Office of Student Conduct and student leaders. The aim of the task force was letting UT students, faculty and staff better understand what goes on during the officers’ compliance checks. Law enforcement also regularly comes to meetings held by the UT’s Coalition for an Alcohol Responsible Environment (CARE).
“It’s really important to partner with the community,” said associate dean of students Gina Firth. “Law enforcement is integral. We need it to keep us safe.”
As Gilmer shared, “ABT and the Sheriff’s office allow for ride-alongs when they visit clubs and bars, so that we can see how the laws are being enforced.”
He said the ride-alongs are not just for UT staff. Students can also go with the officers on compliance checks and watch as they check identifications of patrons who appear to be under the age of 21. This option is even one of the sanctions offered by the Office of Student Conduct for students who have violated the alcohol policy.
Gilmer described how he found himself outside the Kennedy on a recent Thursday night, as he watched students getting arrested:
“Several weeks ago there was a large arrest at The Kennedy for possession of fake IDs and alcohol, so ABT asked Gina Firth if she would like to go on a ride-along. She wasn’t able to on that night, so I went in her place.”
Gilmer said he is aware that many students saw him that night as a disciplinarian rather than simply an observer.
“I understand the difference between perception and reality. The perception was that I was helping the officers by pointing out students. The reality was, I was there watching the officers with the students to see the process.”
That night, Gilmer rode with officers to The Retreat, The Drynk and The Kennedy.
“I recognized students that I knew to be under 21 holding drinks,” he said. “I didn’t say anything though, because that’s not why I was there.”
Anthony Quezada, a UT sophomore, was working at The Kennedy with security when ABT and S.A.V.E. showed up. “They started checking people, and that’s when people started leaving,” he said. “The place cleared out soon after that.”
“Those clubs care about one thing,” Gilmer said, “and that’s making money. I asked a bouncer why he did not take responsibility in checking whether an ID was valid, and he shifted the blame back on the students.”
According to a bouncer at The Retreat, officers usually come in groups of three. On April 7, only three presented badges and they ushered the fourth one in.
“Students came up to me after they left and asked why Mike Gilmer was there,” the bouncer said. He was not aware until the end of the night that one was a member of UT administration.
Quezada said that the officers at the The Kennedy did what they could to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
“There weren’t a lot of cop cars out front,” he said. “It was more under the radar.” Though Quezada did not witness any arrests, “I noticed a couple of IDs got taken away.”
According to Firth, “Students need to know that they need to obey the law. If they’re not following the law, they’re going to be arrested.”
“The purpose of this [the ride-along] is to see how the ‘before’ leads to the ‘after,’” Gilmer said. “We want to see what actually goes on that leads to the arrest reports that come to our office.”
Channing Hailey can be reached at channing.hailey@spartans.ut.edu.
Does anyone like Gilmer?????? He’s such a douche. trust me I see hi everyday. He’s always trying to lie and is sneaky as a snake.
UT Citizen,
It is easy to pass judgment on others who have laws applied to them which are not applied to yourself. You and your nanny state gestapo wet dreams directly conflict with the libertarian nature of our country. Social restrictions such as an arbitrary law as our drinking age do not deserve any recognition. SAVE should be outright disbanded and you should be sent to a nunnery where it is socially acceptable to trample the liberty and free will of others. In short, fuck off.
Wait, does Mike Gilmer think we are mentally handicapped or something. This is the most transparent BS article i HAVE EVER SEEN in The Minaret, he must actually think we are incapable of thinking for ourselves and wouldn’t see right through this.
1. Gilmer, you work for UT, not TPD, the fact that you were with them at popular underage clubs around Tampa is ridiculous. Yes we are private so you CAN get underagers in trouble for misconduct off-campus, but SHOULD you? UT does not own Tampa, your job is not to clean up the city of drunk kids. Last of our very serious crime problems. Stick to campus, you should feel like an asshole for busting kids off campus.
2. Minaret, get your act together, almost weekly you lose more and more credibility in the articles you run and the editing in general. More errors than ever. So much BS goes on at this school you COULD expose, yet you run this damage control piece for Mike Gilmer.
3. Our drinking age is stupid, I just turned 21, woot woot, I’ve only been a responsible drinker since idk FOREVER. It’s called parents teaching their children how to moderate themselves and not be drunk trash.
What needs to be said about this issue is the absurdity of our drinking laws. Many foreign students will attest to the fact that drinking is a relatively minor issue in their countries. I’m from Puerto Rico and the drinking age is still 18 there and I usually have a beer with family when I’m there and it’s no big deal.
What our high drinking age encourages is binge drinking and “pre-gaming” so that students are drunk the entire night while at the club. Why not lower the drinking age to 18 and let students drink in a safe and monitored environment instead of chugging Jose Cuervo in their dorm.
The Tampa Police department is a disgrace, we’ve had dozens of muggings around campus and yet they are only concerned with DUI checks and busting students for underage drinking. Something needs to be done.
Valid points, indeed. I look at it like this: They were made fun of in high school, never got the girl, and weren’t cool enough to have friends to go to the bar with. Now they have it out for all the “cool kids” and are doing their best to get back at them. Then they sit around with their other loser friends talking about how cool they were, how safe they are keeping Tampa, and how dangerous their job is. They “put their lives on the line” every day, trying to keep 20 year olds from drinking. Load of BS. Bunch of wannabe military.
We all should be aloud to take care of ourselves. They are overpaid, fat, and on a power trip. Cops are nothing but a reactive force when it comes to violent crime. Occasionally they get lucky and catch someone in the act, but usually they get called AFTER the fact. If we could all learn to take care of ourselves, we wouldn’t need them so much, and we would have more freedom to do what we wanted.
Honestly, I don’t really care. I carry my own protection, and I know how to take care of myself. They call them “raids” to feel cool. Most wanted to be in the military but bitched out. Anyways, said my piece. Time to finish off this handle of whiskey with my friends (18, 20, and 19). Good times.
You can’t spell flawed without law… Maybe we should address these hysterical consequences before we have bigger problems on our hands. People are getting tired of having to live under the radar. Age is not something that gaurantees sound judgement and basing priviledge on it is as unjust as racism or any other discriminatory factor… people understand the consequences of their actions; the government just tells us it’s wrong to think for yourself. Authority comes from truth, not the other way around.
ABT is pathethic. Took them 5 minutes to figure out the difference between water and alcohol at aja and needed to ask the bartender to confirm. It’s nice to know that tampa is dedicated to busting college kids (people one year off from being legal!) drinking rather than decreasing it’s violent crime rates. Guess that shouldn’t be afraid, they’re to afraid down here to fight actual crime.
UT Citizen is probably his wife (or someone who wishes she was). Anyways, all I know is that the school is private- therefore all they care about is money. Should be no surprise there. Enrolled knowing that, and expected to have to protect myself. That is why we need guns on campus. Gomer is a good dude, he just cares WAY too much when no one else does. Keep it up dude.
To all those bashing Michael Gilmer, think about what you are writing. You are probably one of those caught with a fake ID and are upset that you were caught. Mr. Gilmer is one of the few UT employees who really cares about the students and wants to protect them from their own stupidity. Why don’t you blame President Vaughn or Provost McNew who could care less what happens on campus as long as students are there to pay tuition and their exorbitant salaries. Did you realize that President Vaughn makes almost a MILLION dollars a year and does little to stem the abuses of alcohol or drugs on campus? Mr. Gilmer–keep up the good work. You whiny students–grow up and accept the consequences of your actions!!!
EDIT… he did not write this, but probably paid someone else to write it.
What do you expect? Gilmer is a nothing but a brown-noser, so he naturally had to get an article out trying to make it look like he had nothing to do with it. I am 30 years old, so I really don’t have to worry about this, but it seems to me this kid is all about himself and furthering HIS goals rather than taking his job serious and helping others along the way. Way to go Gilmer, we are soooo thankful for you.
First and Foremost Mike Gilmer…do you even have a life? Your full of shit the only reason you were there that night was to bust kids.
Finally! These kids need to learn that they can’t just break the law when they feel like it. TPD and ABT need to do MANY more of these crackdowns. UT administration also needs to crack down and not turn a blind eye to what’s going on at the UT campus. Things have gotten out of hand in recent years and the UT administration (read President Vaughn) has done little to stop it. Bravo TPD and ABT!
Police didn’t “RAID” anything. A raid is when a lot more police come and shut down the club, usually happens in more drug related incidents. 3 police officers does not constitute as a raid.
So basically Gilmer begged the Minaret to post this article because everyone thinks he ratted students out. This whole article is pathetic.
Kids are regularly being assaulted, and robbed not only around but also on campus. Yet Gilmer still gets high and mighty about alcohol violations. Frankly I think the UT conduct board is more concerned with following written rules then actually making the campus a safer and better place. We have incompetent security guards, as well as useless figureheads on the conduct board. Those would be my only complaints about an otherwise great school.
Why don’t security and police look into the safety aspect of law enforcement around campus rather then busting 20 year olds for having a beer?