If you’re planning on throwing a huge party with underage drinking, expect it to be busted before it begins.

The St. Paul Police Department will actively seek out houses with the potential of throwing large parties beginning in April and notify them of the consequences of underage consumption as part of the Zero Adult Providers program. ZAP’s mission is stopping adults from providing underage people with alcohol.

“It’s kind of a public service to go out and stop and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing. If you plan on having more parties, this is what’s going to happen and this is what you’re faced with,’” Matt Toupal, patrol commander for the Western St. Paul District, said. “It’s an effort to reduce it from the get-go.”

Starting April 12, ZAP will go into effect for its spring season. Toupal said spring and fall are the most active seasons for partying.

“We’ll always take enforcement action, but the attention that it receives during the spring and fall … it coincides with the weather in the spring,” Toupal said. “In the fall, it’s the transition with all the students and they go out and they’re now on their own.”

Toupal explained that even though they don’t track violations by college, and by just area, St. Thomas is one of the larger campuses in the area and leads in violations.

“You can assume on the sheer numbers of students at St. Thomas is leading the pack of colleges,” Toupal said. “It doesn’t matter what college they go to. They get thrown in the pot. We target loud parties.”

Last fall, SPPD counted 31 parties where an individual received a social host violation and 178 minor consumptions. Toupal said these numbers don’t include disorderly conduct or assaults.

Sophomore Ashley Stenstrom doesn’t think the system will stop adults from supplying alcohol, especially when adults are 21-year-old college students.

“I don’t think it’s going to stop people from supplying alcohol because you’re in college. That’s what most people do,” Stenstrom said.

Senior Nate Holupchinkski said ZAP is a good idea in theory, but finds it impractical on a college campus because students will consume alcohol one way or another.

“It would be hard to track and kind of restrict the freedom of college students. It’s something a lot of college students partake in,” Holupchinksi said. “To crack down on that, it would take a lot of effort and a lot of money.”

Toupal said he understands that he can’t stop underage drinking. The ultimate goal of ZAP is to reduce and bring awareness to the issue.

“Let’s be real, you’re never going to stop consuming alcohol in colleges. It isn’t going to happen,” Toupal said. “I don’t want them to have any contact with the police, but I can’t stop it … there are ways to drink responsibly.”

Michael Barrett, St. Thomas Public Safety director, said he hopes the ZAP program will drive St. Thomas students to make safer and healthier choices. He also said receiving a violation can jeopardize your future career path.

“A lot of businesses now will look at your criminal history,” Barrett said. “With the pressure and the sheer volume of applicants, they’ll weed people out by even those misdemeanor offenses.”

Toupal agreed and doesn’t think students realize that a minor consumption or citation can follow them out of college.

“The competition out there for jobs is extremely tough, and I don’t think that people think of that when they go to a party,” Toupal said.

Stenstrom said it will probably stop some people if they understand the consequences for supplying and drinking.

“If there’s no consequences, it’s not going to do much,” Stenstrom said.

Holupchinksi said it might be a little over the top and the effort could go toward something better.

“I think it should be monitored in a decent fashion so students don’t harm themselves or others while drinking,” Holupchinski said. “That could be taken care by the university by better informing students about the consumption of alcohol.”

Bjorn Saterbak can be reached at sate3878@stthomas.edu.