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No arrests in Vail on New Year’s Eve

Gone are the days of dozens of arrests occurring in Vail on New Year’s Eve — this year, there were zero.

It’s a marked difference from the New Year’s Eve celebrations of years past, when an estimated 10,000 revelers packed the village and hundreds of citations were issued for underage possession of alcohol.

For a 20-year period from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, Vail was the place to be for young people looking to party. Vail Town Council member Dave Chapin, part-owner of Vendetta’s Bar, remembers those days well.



“I’d be at the door on the front step of Vendetta’s — I was in charge of collecting cover charges — and the streets were just packed with kids,” he said. “One of those years, there was a medical incident, a young girl got hurt, an orthopedic injury, and they had trouble getting to her.”

Twenty-one people were arrested on New Year’s Eve of 1985-86, 17 arrests occurred the next year, 16 the year after that. By the early 2000s, the party in Vail was described as being one of the biggest in the state and 27 arrests occurred in 2004.

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The town council finally said enough is enough, after former Police Chief Greg Morrison said he issued 200 citations for underage possession of alcohol and described juveniles in Vail smuggling in backpacks full of liquor.

A curfew was initiated and a police checkpoint was set up. It took a few years, but eventually the throngs of young people stopped showing up.

“Some people said it was heavy handed,” Chapin said. “But it was a safety issue. Someone was going to get killed.”

Chapin said for many locals concerned about a lack of business, revenues actually went up.

“Families started coming back into town,” Chapin said.

Today, the town has been able to maintain the safe atmosphere, using “additional presence of police and fire personnel to ensure a safe and fun atmosphere,” according to a press release issued by the town of Vail on Dec. 27.

Police cruisers were set up in the taxi lanes on top of the transportation center with flashing lights on, and additional foot patrols in the pedestrian areas were used “to maintain a family-friendly environment during the holiday,” according to the town.

The effort resulted in a calm and arrest-free New Year’s Eve, said Vail Police Chief Ryan Kenney.

“Everyone was very well behaved,” he said.


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