Citywide attention was focused on Allston Saturday morning, after an Art Institute of Boston junior fell to his death from a roof following a possibly related brawl. For a moment, the routine weekend squalor of the area, familiar to any student in Boston, was recognized because of its coincidence with a tragic event. The scenes of violent mayhem that emerged from a typical night at an Allston apartment occur all too regularly in the neighborhood that is heavily populated by students.

In nearby Brookline, the well-policed city contiguous to Allston, the sort of partying that can erupt into fighting is considerably less common. While students have complained about overly aggressive patrols in the neighborhoods closest to Boston University — and many reports of police action were rightly criticized and addressed in public meetings this fall — the lack of police presence that would discourage rowdiness in Allston deserves mention.

When police responded at 2:29 a.m. to the scene of the fight, they found a student with life-threatening injuries lying in an alley. Police had to be called to the apartment where the fight and fall occurred, though, ideally, patrols in the neighborhoods would have noticed a disturbance on the relatively busy thoroughfare. Should a noisy party or disturbance begin to play out in Brookline, less than a mile from Allston, it would likely be quickly answered by patrol cars that are situated in student areas, awaiting the first signs of trouble.

While Boston Police are understandably engaged in violent crime prevention in other neighborhoods of the city, bar fights and alcohol-fueled violence thrive in this neighborhood, populated by students who attend elite colleges. It speaks volumes that within the short distance between Allston and Brookline such discrepancies in atmosphere exist. The police ever at-hand in Brookline quickly jump on any disturbance on the quiet streets, while parties in Allston can easily turn into violent. Saturday night, young partiers returned to the same apartments, unaware of the tragedy that occurred the night before or the inherent dangers for accidental injury or violent eruptions at chaotic, booze-filled parties.

After the investigation of Shawn Dow’s death is closed, the crime coverage in Boston will refocus on neighborhoods where more pressing crime threats like gang violence and homicide are too frequent. The continuing problems of noise and belligerence in Allston will still require redress, though the city will pay them less attention. Though students can clearly avoid the problems that plague Allston, as evidenced by relatively innocuous activities nearby, the neighborhood remains a somewhat lawless place on certain nights, and reports of Saturday’s activities, while disturbing, are less, unfortunately, than surprising.