Law enforcement team up to keep students safe during grad season
ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- This week, many students across West Texas will be graduating from high school. While it is a time to celebrate, many officials are reminding students to celebrate responsibly.
Officers with multiple agencies will patrol the street to keep kids from underage drinking. Officials are also offering an alternative called Project Graduation. It will be held at Urban Air, and it is meant to keep students safe.
'We have staff members, especially Clara Pride, who worked very hard to put this together for our youth,' Sara Hinshaw, Basin Lighthouse Director, said. 'We are here, we all worry because we care about our youth. We want our youth to grow up and be successful. So, she works super hard to provide this party. She gets out in the community, cause again we want a safe place for our kids to go.'
Project graduation is organized by Basin Lighthouse, a non-profit that specializes in drug and alcohol abuse. But it isn't the only organization working to make a difference this graduation season.
'The agency in Ector County is coming together, and we focus on preventing alcohol parties for juveniles right after graduation night for the safety of the students,' LT. Chancey Westfall at Ector County Police Department said. 'Historically, in the past, there have been times where students go to these parties, get intoxicated, drive, and we end up losing students that are just now starting their gulf journey in life.'
In Odessa, parents can be criminally charged if caught hosting parties for underage kids. Where alcohol is being served.
'2,000-dollar fines regarding that social host ordinance. That's a pretty significant fine, and we haven't written an enormous amount of those, but we have written those,' Chief Michael Gerke said. 'Those have been issued, and we will do it again. I hate to say that because if people put us in that position, they force us in that corner, it will happen. So again, that's why we are here today, because of the safety of the young people and asking the parents and adults to be responsible.'
Basin Lighthouse says that in this area, 13 percent of seniors are getting alcohol at parties. Officials say the community can help by sending tips and talking to Crime Stoppers about any known grad parties that might be serving alcohol.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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