There are few things college students dread more than police encounters. All it takes is flashing lights in a rear-view mirror, firm knocks at a front door or figures staking a street corner to send hearts pulsing and adrenaline skyrocketing. After years of witnessed incidents and recounted tales, suspicions mount while students eye police officers as foggy territory rather than accessible ground.
This wariness of law enforcement is as natural to college students as ramen noodles or T-shirts, often because we catch them in their most unglamorous moments. We observe police answering noise complaints, positioning themselves at intersections or issuing parking tickets. A stigma forms, presenting an illusion that police are constantly hovering at students’ toes and waiting for a moment to move in and crack down. Unfamiliarity only magnifies this fear.
Citizens are entitled to several unavoidable rights, especially with regards to police interaction. If we fail to understand the law, we’re in danger of neglecting justice and participation in the community. The public is justice’s best watchdog, and knowing what is and isn’t lawful protects one from becoming victim of circumstance or caught in confusion.
Law enforcement isn’t fading out of our lives anytime soon, and we need to be familiar with our rights as citizens and the police’s rights as guardians of the public good. This adequate flow of knowledge promotes open conversations and transparency.
The SGA Office for Student Affairs wants to give students an opportunity to understand their role in the relationship through a “Know Your Rights” seminar. Local lawyers will hold a question-and-answer session following a short video presentation that breaks down the rights students have when dealing with police.
“Our ultimate goal is to increase civic engagement of students by teaching students what their rights are with police officers,” Hamilton Bloom, vice president for Student Affairs, said “Hopefully this seminar will foster a better relationship between those two groups.”
The free event will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Ballroom, and all students are encouraged to attend.
As students and citizens, we’re entitled to privileges that are potentially underutilized and untapped if we don’t first know them. Bloom believes covering these lessons will allow students to play an active role in government and prevent possible run-ins that jeopardize rights. Proper education and dialogue can be the bridge between students and police, enabling coexistence as beneficiaries, not opponents.
Police understand students aren’t potential felons looking for mischief, and despite our occasional doubt, we know that police don’t strive to crash parties or relentlessly give speeding tickets. Their job is to protect the city that we’re a part of, and ours is to ensure that justice is served in the most impartial and effective way. It’s undeniable that our paths sometimes cross unpleasantly, but through communication and transparency, both can benefit in a partnership that protects the public and individual alike.
Allison Ingram is the SGA liason to The Crimson White. The SGA’s column runs monthly.
