SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — After several big parties in recent months that caused police and ambulance responses, some officials are looking to the managers of three apartment complexes to make changes.

State police and other emergency responders were called to two parties of young people already this school year. They also broke up a party in April on one of the last weekends of the previous school year.

The parties were at different apartment complexes that cater largely to Slippery Rock University students.

On April 25, police shut down a party, advertised as “Pig Roast 2K15,” at The Heights apartments on Route 173 where there was an estimated crowd of 3,000. At least four people were injured that night, and police made a dozen arrests for charges including drunken driving, public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, assault and harassment.

On Aug. 22, two men were hospitalized with head injuries after getting into a fight outside The Grove apartments on Harmony Road during its “Epic Pool Party.” Another man was hospitalized with suspected alcohol intoxication.

Then on Sept. 3, state police and ambulances responded to a “Block Party” at University Village apartments on Vineyard Circle adjacent to campus. The Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and ambulances from Slippery Rock and Butler spent about seven hours on scene and took 14 patients to the hospital, mostly for alcohol poisoning.

State police from Butler are the first to respond to any calls in the township.

If the state police are notified before a large party being promoted, they typically will have extra manpower ready to respond, State Police Trooper Dan Kesten said.

Following the pig roast in April, the Slippery Rock Township Supervisors voted to have their solicitor make revisions to the township ordinance that allows the township to cite and penalize noisy or disorderly properties.

That ordinance is still in the works and may be discussed at the supervisors meeting at 8 p.m. Monday, said Supervisor Paul Dickey.

Dickey said he spoke with the management at The Heights and at University Village about his concerns following their respective parties.

“Our goal with these ordinances is to lay responsibility directly on the management. They have to control these things,” he said.

Logan Steigerwalt, a junior at SRU and the president of the student government association, said some of the apartment complexes are known for throwing one or two big annual parties that draw hundreds of people.

The events are not sanctioned or advertised by SRU, but word spreads to a wide audience through social media.

Student government representatives have talked with SRU President Cheryl Norton about the issue of unruly parties, but SRU has limited influence on what happens off campus, Steigerwalt said.

One thing they can do is to encourage students to make smart decisions and be safe, he said.

“We just really want what is best for the students. We all know that these things happen; it’s college. We just want it to be as safe as possible,” Steigerwalt said.

A possible remedy would be additional private security at the parties, he said.

“I feel if they had more of a security presence, the complex’s security, then if something happens they could jump in right away,” he said.

Rita Abent, SRU executive director of university public relations, agreed having additional security would be good.

“Clearly the apartment complexes have to take a leadership role in making sure that these events, especially these mega-parties, have the appropriate kinds of security there,” she said.

She noted one of the busiest weekends in the fall for SRU is homecoming, which will be Oct. 9-11.

Public safety officials typically have a plan for that weekend, Abent said.

“I’m sure that, as we did last year, there will be multiple homecoming meetings between state police, university police and borough police, just so that everyone is on the same page,” she said.

Borough Councilman Itzi Meztli said township residents should have police protection from a township department, which the township does not have.

“The township really needs to have a police force,” he said.

Meztli said borough police have an agreement to provide assistance to state police in the township when needed, but if they get called frequently for college parties or other activities that another department would handle, it is unfair to borough taxpayers.

The idea of a joint borough and township police department has been brought up in the past, but the township was not interested, he said.

Borough Mayor Ron Fodor said the presence of the borough’s police force helps to minimize problems there.

“The fact that our police force is out there visually is really preventive,” he said.

The police schedules officers to be prepared for potentially busy Friday and Saturday nights, he added.

Also he noted that while the housing in the borough has not changed much, the amount of housing for students in the township has gone up considerably in the past eight to 10 years.

Borough Police Chief Terry Fedokovitz said Tuesday at the borough council meeting they assisted state police on two calls in the previous month, one of which was The Grove’s pool party.

The department is asked to assist on calls in the township, but is sometimes unable to send an officer, he said.