Costs for extra police and other staff for "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" were more than $30,000.

Those costs included overtime pay for patrol officers and other staff for police and university personnel, but that was expected with the intended strategy of having more officers on the streets.

"The greater police presence will cost more, that's for sure," said University of Illinois Interim Police Chief Jeff Christensen.

Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney said the higher costs had some benefits to the safety of the community.

"I think they paid off in terms of keeping this 'Unofficial' to minimal violence," Finney said. "We were able to get to calls for service quicker and keep problems to a minimum. The downside is we are spending more money."

If things next year remain the same, particularly in terms of promotion of the event by campus bar owners, Finney said his recommendation to Mayor Jerry Schweighart, who is also liquor commissioner for the city, will include restricting the entry age for bars in Champaign to 21.

It helped that some campus bars voluntarily changed their entry age from 19 to 21, Finney said.

The other step Finney will urge again for next year is the ability to shut down the bars on emergency basis.

"We would continue to raise the level of police presence in the area to keep down the problems," Finney said.

Champaign police also had the manpower to deal with problems at private parties, he said.

"When we had a particular area that was getting out of control, we responded quickly and we shut down several parties that were becoming problems for us," Finney said.

Costs for local and state police – overtime and special details – and other staffing to cope with "Unofficial" on and around the UI campus totaled about $30,305 for the period from 7 a.m. Feb. 29 to 4 a.m. March 1.

Champaign police Lt. Brad Yohnka, supervisor of the South District, which includes Campustown, said there were fewer serious crimes and fewer injuries this year, thanks to the increased police presence. Similar cost figures for previous years were not available.

"Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" has evolved into a daylong drinking event, traditionally held on the Friday before UI students leave on spring break. In recent years, university and city officials expressed concerns about the injuries, property damage and disruption to classes. The announced strategy this year was to have more officers in the campus district to watch for problems. Another strategy by UI officials was to prohibit non-students from staying in the residence halls.

One result was there were 199 citations and arrests – mostly for minors in possession of alcohol and carrying alcohol on public property. That's up from 176 last year. Officials said another result was fewer injuries and illness during "Unofficial," with 29 medical calls this year compared with 63 in 2007.

A third strategy was to enforce parking restrictions, resulting in 229 vehicles towed.