By Camas Frank

The San Luis Obispo Police Department had the numbers in by noon on March 18.

There were seven St. Patrick’s Day festivity related arrests in the City after being on full deployment all day.

That was one down from last year when eight merrymakers went to the County’s “drunk-tank” on Kansas Ave. for a Drunk Driving (DUI) or Drunk in Public.

Citations fines were also doubled on St. Patrick’s Day weekend under the city’s Safety Enhancement Zone Ordinance, which doubles municipal fines for alcohol related infractions.

This year there were nine citations for urinating in public, three open container and one minor found in possession of alcohol.

While overall arrest numbers were down, five of the eight arrests this year were for DUI.

SLOPD Capt. Chris Staley said he couldn’t find any DUI’s recorded for the same day last year, adding that a variety of factors might have accounted for the change.

“Even the morning crowd was a little less intense this year,” he said, “overall a lot less impactful.”

Although there was no repeat of the massive student party dubbed “St. Fratty’s Day” that led to a roof collapse on the weekend before the holiday last year, Cal Poly’s University Police Department did team up with the SLOPD and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for, “safety and conduct enforcement for alcohol-related crimes on March 11.”

They cited 14 people with 18 different infractions at bars and private parties.

While the departments kept more of an eye on social media as well this year, many of the students were already on their way out of town by the time the drinking holiday rolled around. Cal Poly’s “finals week” was March 14-18 and the last day of classes was March 11.

The shift in demographics plus the addition of the Thursday Night Downtown “Farmers Market” on the same night of St. Patrick’s Day might have led to more folks driving to and from the Downtown as opposed to the walking crowds arrested for Drunk in Public last year.