Submitted by Elizabeth (not verified) on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 6:55am.
You know, I wish my experience with the party patrol was this neutral.
I was caught at the Greenwood block party a few years ago now. With an empty cup. Cop grabbed my arm (from behind) and startled me...dropping my cup and gasping. I didn't really hear what he said, but he proceeded to bend my arm behind my back and shove me toward the car.
A little background. Yes, I had been drinking. No, I was not drunk (at all). Yes, things had gotten a little crazy - a couple guys ran and some officers chased and tackled them. It was on the other side of the street and a little ways away from where I was.
I told the officer that I was coming with him willingly, and would he please loosen his grip on my arm. He chuckled and made a snide comment along the lines of fat chance.
Shoved me in the car, grabbed my purse to look through it. They couldn't find my ID (it was in the side zipped pocket) so I told them where it was. The partner I'm assuming, who was in the driver's seat, asked me all the compulsory questions. The one who grabbed me was leaning in the window and said, "get her for littering too!" Cop asking me questions rolled his eyes when I answered yes to the question of being a student at U of M. Then muttered "figures."
I'll always wonder why the hell it is OK to ticket someone for something you didn't witness, didn't test for, didn't smell for (the cup or me). The cop who accosted me claimed he saw me with a red plastic cup of beer. The drink the cup has once contained was not beer, but some red mixed drink.
And if someone could explain to me exactly when I should've picked up the litter, please enlighten me.
I went to Student Legal Services who said it's not an uncommon story, and suggested I fight the littering charge. The judge didn't listen to anything except that I had an MIP and a littering charge, dropped the littering and gave me the class thing.
All-in-all, AA got some money. And I got more fodder for my lifetime fear of the personality type drawn to the police force.
I wish I had had my run in with someone a little more stable, and a little less jaded.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 6:51pm.
Those cops just want write tickets to students to make money for the city. Its easier to catch a drunk student who happened to set foot on the sidewalk then do some real crime stopping.
I called the cops this summer because I had a homeless man in-front of my apartment naked shaking his bum penis at me. GUESS WHO NEVER SHOWED UP! the AAPD. they dont care during the summer when they cant make money on campus. Were they in the student ghetto when my friend was mugged this summer? NO. were they around when all the houses in the neighbor hood were broken into NO.
Were they there this welcome week when students came back....OF COURSE.
If they gave half as much care to really protecting us I would not care that they were arresting drunk students.
Get a life and try and really help people rather then sit around on your butts and write tickets when your not to lazy to run down students in the street.
Submitted by Beth (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 12:37pm.
I think I've been pretty partial to the Daily in past years, I like reading it but this article was not very good... not very good at all. Spelling and grammar mistakes abound, and it is so obviously biased in favor of painting the student offenders as victims ("The officer approaches his unsuspecting target purposefully — pointing a flashlight just at the moment it’s too late to run. Then the offender tenses up like a cornered baby rabbit, making a vain attempt to drop or hide his drink.") This is something I'd expect to find in my high school newspaper.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 11:10am.
Well done Sara, and whoever (if not you) conjured up this mission. This is similar to an article that I have always hoped to see in the Daily; a 'Day in the Life' piece on Mary Sue Coleman.
You know, I wish my experience with the party patrol was this neutral.
I was caught at the Greenwood block party a few years ago now. With an empty cup. Cop grabbed my arm (from behind) and startled me...dropping my cup and gasping. I didn't really hear what he said, but he proceeded to bend my arm behind my back and shove me toward the car.
A little background. Yes, I had been drinking. No, I was not drunk (at all). Yes, things had gotten a little crazy - a couple guys ran and some officers chased and tackled them. It was on the other side of the street and a little ways away from where I was.
I told the officer that I was coming with him willingly, and would he please loosen his grip on my arm. He chuckled and made a snide comment along the lines of fat chance.
Shoved me in the car, grabbed my purse to look through it. They couldn't find my ID (it was in the side zipped pocket) so I told them where it was. The partner I'm assuming, who was in the driver's seat, asked me all the compulsory questions. The one who grabbed me was leaning in the window and said, "get her for littering too!" Cop asking me questions rolled his eyes when I answered yes to the question of being a student at U of M. Then muttered "figures."
I'll always wonder why the hell it is OK to ticket someone for something you didn't witness, didn't test for, didn't smell for (the cup or me). The cop who accosted me claimed he saw me with a red plastic cup of beer. The drink the cup has once contained was not beer, but some red mixed drink.
And if someone could explain to me exactly when I should've picked up the litter, please enlighten me.
I went to Student Legal Services who said it's not an uncommon story, and suggested I fight the littering charge. The judge didn't listen to anything except that I had an MIP and a littering charge, dropped the littering and gave me the class thing.
All-in-all, AA got some money. And I got more fodder for my lifetime fear of the personality type drawn to the police force.
I wish I had had my run in with someone a little more stable, and a little less jaded.
Those cops just want write tickets to students to make money for the city. Its easier to catch a drunk student who happened to set foot on the sidewalk then do some real crime stopping.
I called the cops this summer because I had a homeless man in-front of my apartment naked shaking his bum penis at me. GUESS WHO NEVER SHOWED UP! the AAPD. they dont care during the summer when they cant make money on campus. Were they in the student ghetto when my friend was mugged this summer? NO. were they around when all the houses in the neighbor hood were broken into NO.
Were they there this welcome week when students came back....OF COURSE.
If they gave half as much care to really protecting us I would not care that they were arresting drunk students.
Get a life and try and really help people rather then sit around on your butts and write tickets when your not to lazy to run down students in the street.
A Frustrated Senior
I think I've been pretty partial to the Daily in past years, I like reading it but this article was not very good... not very good at all. Spelling and grammar mistakes abound, and it is so obviously biased in favor of painting the student offenders as victims ("The officer approaches his unsuspecting target purposefully — pointing a flashlight just at the moment it’s too late to run. Then the offender tenses up like a cornered baby rabbit, making a vain attempt to drop or hide his drink.") This is something I'd expect to find in my high school newspaper.
Well done Sara, and whoever (if not you) conjured up this mission. This is similar to an article that I have always hoped to see in the Daily; a 'Day in the Life' piece on Mary Sue Coleman.
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