Four Lawrence police officers enforcing underage drinking laws on a special patrol Thursday night wrote tickets for 18 alcohol-related offenses, said Jen Jordan, director of prevention for DCCCA and a member of the New Tradition Coalition.

During a four-hour patrol, officers wrote nine minor in possession of alcohol tickets, seven citations for consuming alcohol in public and two for carrying fake IDs. The patrol included checks at bars and patrols in the Oread neighborhood near the Kansas University campus, she said.

Jordan said patrol coincided with Thursday being the final day of classes this semester at KU and the Friday as the last day of classes for the Lawrence high school seniors who are exempt from taking final exams. The patrol was funded as part of the coalition’s Drug Free Community Grant, and it was organized in combination with a coalition marketing campaign about social hosting laws.

She said through grant funds will support four or five more similar patrols this spring and summer.

Four Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control officers also were out enforcing underage drinking laws for eight hours Thursday, Jordan said. Numbers from that effort were not immediately available.