The last day of classes – or LDOC, as it’s known around UNC, was on Wednesday. That kicks off an extended weekend of revelry before final exams.

And local authorities are very well aware of the celebrations that are sure to come.

“We want people to act responsibly, drink responsibly – if you’re drinking,” Mecimore said. “We always encourage people to go out as a group and stick together as a group and take care of the people with you.”

Mecimore said that there will be an increased police presence around Chapel Hill to ensure that everyone is following the rules while celebrating the end of the academic year.

“Our Alcohol – Law Enforcement Response Team will be out for the next several days all the way through the end of the weekend doing some extra patrols,” Mecimore said. “That will mean responding to loud noise complaints and monitoring issues that relate to loud noise – frequently, loud noise and alcohol kind of go hand-in-hand.”

Mecimore said those patrols will consist of checks for underage drinking at parties and doing compliance checks at local establishments.

“That means going to bars and making sure that they’re doing what is expected of them,” he said, “going to establishments that sell alcohol for off-premise consumption like grocery stores, convenience stores.”

Mecimore said that alcohol violations are typically higher on a weekend like this, even when compared with other weekends associated with university breaks. He added that safety is the overall goal of the increased law enforcement efforts.

“We want to make sure that everybody has a good weekend, has fun,” Mecimore said. “But we want it to be done safely.”