To Ryan Kreager, and anyone else who agrees with him,
You are correct — a lot of time and effort has been spent complaining about the current policies and recent actions of the South Bend and Excise police forces. And in reply to your smug remark, yes, we have not forgotten that underage drinking is illegal. However, I ask that you and anyone else in the future who plans on making similar remarks about the way the police are handling these situations please refrain from doing so if you do not understand the gravity of the situation.
First off, the fact that anyone could prioritize stopping underage drinking just as they do armed robbery is astonishing to me. When it comes to preventing shootings, muggings and armed robberies vs. stopping 18, 19 and 20 year olds from drinking, we as a society absolutely want the police to start "playing judge" by choosing to try and prevent the more serious crimes. If you disagree, please go explain your thoughts to the families of those who have been shot and/or robbed.
Also, regardless of their policies, the brutality and dishonesty of the police officers in many of these "busts" is completely unacceptable and represents a problem much more serious than underage drinking ever could. Arresting students and bringing them to the station is only the tip of the iceberg. Knowing people who have had encounters with the police as well as experiencing it firsthand myself, there are countless examples of these "law enforcers" breaking that which they are paid to uphold. Physical violence, the use of tasers and taunting directed at the students as well as illegal entries and fraudulent police reports are problems many of us here know too well.
So what I ask is if there are any more complaints about how students are reacting to the recent arrests, please keep them to yourself unless you fully understand the magnitude of the current situation. Underage drinking is illegal, but the police force continually breaking the law is truly what you were referring to as "hypocrisy of the highest order."
Robert Schaus
junior
O'Neill Hall
Sep. 1
