So far there have been multiple articles in The Observer and other news sources about tension between Notre Dame students and the police. The students quoted in The Observer articles have only seemed to express their frustration that the South Bend Police Department is wasting their time on such trivial things like underage drinking. If that were the case that would be frustrating, but in every article I've read the parties in question seemed to already have illegal activity happening. A previous article in the Aug. 27 edition of The Observer discussed a fight breaking out at a party and moving into the street. In addition, the front page story of the Aug. 30 edition cited a party where students were trespassing into a nearby pool.
I agree that the SBPD should not be wasting their time on such things as underage drinking at parties and petty crimes like trespassing, however instead of being outraged that they are, maybe the student body should take some responsibility. Neither of these parties would have been an issue if students were not committing crimes. The police cannot just simply ignore a crime in the assumption that a larger crime is happening elsewhere. They are obligated to respond to the crimes they know are happening.
Fellow students, instead of being angry about the police doing their job, stop forcing them to waste their time. Grow up a little and take responsibility for your actions. If we quit committing these crimes then the Police might have time to stop those "worse crimes" that we are so concerned about.
Eli Reichenbach
junior
off campus
Sept. 1
