Northampton Police Produce Video
By Patricia Guth
June 8, 2000
Northampton Herald
It's that time of year. Proms, graduations, and other special occasions abound, and with those events come the opportunity to party. For some teens, this means an opportunity to consume alcohol.
But it's 'not just teen drinking that worries law enforcement agencies. It's the adults who think it's okay to serve alcohol to their teen and his or her friends. It's those people that the Northampton police and the Council Rock School District hope to reach with their new educational video.
Filmed throughout the month of May at different area locations, this professionally made video addresses the "Dangers of Adults Serving Alcoholic Beverages to Minors" according to Detective Ken Barnes, community policing coordinator for the Northampton Township Police Department.
"As far as we know," adds Detective Barnes, "this is the first educational videotape that has attacked this particular subject."
"There's a plethora of tapes and pamphlets geared toward adolescent drinking," he adds, but notes that he's been unable to find anything else that stresses the consequences suffered by adults who serve to minors.
The video was financed through a $15,000 grant procured by State Representative Roy Reinard of Holland. The project has also received great support from KYW-TV and News Radio and the Act 211 Committee of the Council Rock School District.
Detective Ken Barnes (standing) and Jeff Jim,
videographer, edit the new police video.
For the video, we've created a scene that is not unusual," states Detective Barnes, whose son, Ryan, is featured in the production. The scenario involves a set of parents who decide it's okay to serve alcohol to teens at a party in their home, as long as the drivers leave their keys and agree to stay overnight and "sleep it off."
This is a common occurrence at graduation time and Detective Barnes has often heard of this happening in and around the township. Of course, the parents eventually go to sleep and it's inevitable that one or more of these less than sober teens may retrieve their car keys and sneak out. That's what happens in the videotape.
Holland residents Steve and Bunny Ambrose, who have been very involved with the Northampton Citizen's Police Academy, play the parents who serve the alcohol and later face the consequences in a Bucks County courtroom. Ryan Barnes plays the teen, who sneaks out and is later killed in an automobile accident.
Bunny Ambrose immediately recognized the importance of this video when Ken Barnes asked her and her husband to participate.
"This will portray middle class parents who think they're doing the right thing," states Bunny emphatically. "They don't realize they can lose everything."
But the film certainly points out the dangers of this risky behavior. Besides viewing both the party and accident scenes, viewers will see first hand how a real open guilty plea can play out in the courtroom.
Attorney Lou Busico plays the prosecuting attorney and his assistant, Marian Raguso, portrays the defense attorney. Judge Cynthia Rufe, who's been extremely enthusiastic about the project, goes through all the steps that would actually take place in a proceeding of this sort.
Detective Barnes points out that a trial of this sort would most likely cost about $25,000 for defense on criminal offenses and the costs for civil offenses would be astronomical.
St. Mary Medical Center and the Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad were also indispensable in filming the accident and hospital scenes. Dr. Beth Dupree of Richboro, who participated as a trauma surgeon, gives a brief description during the video about the physical reasons people should not drink before the age of 21.
Fluehr Funeral Home of Holland provided the location for the final scene of the video, a touching and sobering shot of a casket closing while grieving parents (played by Fred and Carol Walter of Churchville) look on, wondering what they could have done to save their son.
A seemingly unlikely supporter of the video was, Riverhorse Brewing Company of Lambertville, New Jersey, and its owner, Mike Quinn of Newtown.
Detective Barnes needed permission to show a beer label on the video and approached Mike, who hopped on the project in a heartbeat. Even though this is his business, Mike noted that he does not promote either underage drinking or irresponsible adult behavior.
The video production company was Video Gold of Richboro, operated by owner Jeff Jim. After the May 30th premiere date, Detective Barnes plans to distribute the video to municipal access channels, school districts, community groups and anyone else who deems the project useful.
Through Representative Reinard, he hopes the video will achieve statewide distribution. Perhaps during this graduation season, this worthwhile project will save the lives of just a few teens and parents will think twice before making the wrong decision.
For more information on obtaining a copy of the video, call Ken Barnes at 215-322- 6111. |
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