Nine high school students from two communities were taken into police custody on alcohol-related charges for allegedly drinking before a school dance on Sept. 26.

Police said school administrators contacted the authorities after questioning the students who displayed “obvious signs of impairment” as they made their way into the Salem High School Freshmen Reception between 7 and 9 p.m.

Authorities believe the students had been drinking in the school parking lot and tried to sneak some of the liquor into the event using water bottles. Several bottles of alcohol, including rum, were recovered in three of the students’ vehicles, prompting authorities to tow the vehicles, according to Capt. Shawn Patten.

Three other students were taken into custody, but did not face charges after officers administered blood alcohol tests.

Patten said the police department has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to underage drinking, to which he attributed the low number of similar incidents in the past.

“Salem High School administrators and the (school resource) officers ... work together to try and prevent these things from happening,” he said. “We do a good job, and we don’t see a lot of those problems. Like any other community, it happens, but we’re not overridden with it.”

Superintendent Michael Delahanty said that while the alleged behavior on the part of the students taken into custody was unfortunate, it was not uncommon when several hundred adolescents come together under one roof.

“There were about 800 or 900 students in attendance and one of the things that I’ve said regularly and repeatedly, you can’t go to too many places and have that number of adolescents in one big room and not have problems unless there is a tremendous amount of respect for the school and the culture of the school,” he said.

“There was no improper behavior during the dance, it was just the misfortune of several students ... who had been drinking some type of alcohol before getting to the dance.”

Delahanty praised the actions of school administrators on the scene who promptly brought in the authorities after suspecting alcohol-use among some of the students. He said they acted without hesitation even as they knew the incident would bring bad publicity upon the school.

According to Delahanty, the freshmen reception has been an annual fundraising event for the senior class over the last 15 or so years and generally includes a series of short skits or performances before becoming a dance. Students caught consuming alcohol or any other illegal substance before or during a school event face automatic consequences.

Each of the students will serve school suspensions of varying lengths, he said. Emily Anyon, 17, Elanor Bouraphael, 17, Samir Ramey, 17 and David Welch, 17, all of Salem, are facing unlawful possession of alcohol charges, along with Kimberly Foote, 17, Kina Wilbur Kamien, 18, and Justin Shepley, 18, all of Windham. Kamien was also charged with transportation of alcoholic beverages along with Christine Hill, 17, and Brad Morisseau, both of Salem.

All of the students were released into the custody of their parents either at the school or at the police station, authorities said.