RIP, Safe and Sober. Tempe still needs you

“Safe and Sober” is on the shelf.

The Tempe Police Department’s annual crackdown on street crime and underage drinking near the Arizona State University offended a few people, who griped that the city was becoming a police state. The annual campaign lasted all of nine days spread over three weekends. Go figure.

In its place will be a kinder, gentler, nameless effort emphasizing education and prevention. Police, firefighters and ASU officials held a Welcome Back Walk this week to explain the dangers of binge drinking.

That sounds like what Tempe did before Safe and Sober. It worked so well, Safe and Sober had to be created. These are young adults. They know binge drinking is a bad idea. But what they know and what they do are often entirely different things.

That’s why serious enforcement will continue to be called for, and not just in breaking up loud parties or targeting impaired drivers. Underage drinking is against the law, but it is epidemic around any university. Tempe police should continue to target it. Keep that under control, and many of the other problems will disappear.

A downside of Safe and Sober was that it lasted only three weekends. Tempe police say their new efforts will be year-round. That is an improvement, but only if that means a balanced effort that includes education and enforcement.

Showing young adults the dangers of binge and underage drinking makes sense, but let’s not kid ourselves that alone will change behavior. The answer lies in a balance Tempe has yet to find.

Education makes a point. Handcuffs and court dates give it an exclamation point. Use them. And if a few loud voices accuse Tempe of being a police state, tune them out and think of the lives to be saved.