Baker County DA urges prom safety, warns of alcohol risks this weekend

Heavy patrols were set for Friday and Saturday nights in and around Baker City as Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter warned that prom weekend could turn dangerous fast if teens drink, drive or make the wrong call.

Baxter tied his warning to his own experience living in São Paulo, Brazil, where he said he had to learn to stay aware of his surroundings and make smart choices about where he went and how he stayed safe. He used that lesson to frame prom weekend as a time for judgment, not fear, telling students the goal is to protect yourself and look out for friends.

The county’s top prosecutor said local law enforcement, the Baker County Juvenile Department and the district attorney’s office had been coordinating on steps to keep young people safer this weekend. That included extra patrols Friday and Saturday nights across the county, a signal that officials expected the kinds of problems that often follow big school events and wanted to get ahead of them before they started.

For Baker families, the message carried a clear practical warning. Baxter specifically said some teenagers may ignore the advice and drink anyway, which raises the risk not only of impaired driving but of becoming a victim. Parents and guardians were urged to talk with their teens before the weekend, line up transportation in advance and make sure pickup plans were clear before anyone left for prom.

Baker High School’s prom centered the warning at 2500 E Street in Baker City, where the school sits at the heart of the community’s spring celebrations. Baxter has served as Baker County district attorney since December 2019, and his office’s intervention showed that prom weekend is being treated as more than a routine school event.

State and national safety guidance backs up that concern. The Oregon Department of Transportation says its impaired-driving program aims to reduce drunk and drugged driving through education, law enforcement and public outreach, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration publishes prom-season safety advice for parents and teen drivers. SAMHSA says underage alcohol use increases the risk of crashes, violence, sexual assault, homicide, sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.

The county has also heard similar warnings before. In May 2024, Baxter and Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby said threats against schools would be pursued and punished, and later that month the two spoke with Baker High seniors about the dangers of driving under the influence. Oregon Impact says its Operation Prom Night crash reenactments have reached more than 30,000 high school students, underscoring that the risks Baxter raised in Baker County are part of a broader statewide pattern.