Posted: 02/07/07

Security cracks down on campus
St. Michael's security and Colchester police start the semester off with unexpected number of officials

Rachel Haven | fact checker
rhaven@smcvt.edu

For those of you upper-classmen, think back to your freshman or sophomore year at St. Michael’s. Not your first-year seminar and the cute kid who sat in front who you were too shy to talk to, but the weekends -- the part of the week that you most looked forward to -- a chance to kick back a few with your friends and let the stress of the week dissolve.

In those first months of school, when the autumn chill had yet to settle over campus, you could hardly push your way through the 100s. No matter where you went you’d see crowds of familiar faces and always that random kid from math who you’d embrace and laugh with and talk about how you could hardly stay awake in class it was so boring. Those were the days alright.

But something has changed on campus, whether it’s a slow and deliberate process we are just now realizing, there has been a definite shift. The first weekend back of the spring semester, students were greeted not only by familiar smiling faces, but by the Colchester police force and increased security -- who stopped students, searched backpacks, checked IDs and broke-up parties.

Colchester police issued paperwork for underage alcohol possession to 32 students on Friday and Saturday. According to Peter Soons, Director of Security at St. Michael’s College, those numbers are well above the average for a typical weekend.

Stepped up security

Anyone who went out the first weekend back from winter break will tell you the same thing. Police and security forces were unavoidable.

Along with St. Michael's security forces, there were four Colchester police officers on campus Friday and Saturday night the first weekend back from winter break. (Izabela Socha, photo)

Soons says that the increasing security presence on campus is no accident.

“We are trying to increase our presence on campus on weekends. It is a deliberate attempt to increase…our accessibility on campus and we are doing that through scheduling,” Soons says. “Our schedule tends to be stacked towards the weekend, because that’s when we’re busiest, obviously. Then in addition to that, we have been adding part-time staff to augment our full-time personnel, to allow us to have more people on during those times when we are anticipated to be busy.”

At the beginning of each year, the various departments on campus are asked to submit budget requests. This year, Soons requested money for additional staffing but has yet to receive any funds.

He made the request after conducting an informal survey of the student-to-security- officer ratio at institutions similar in size and make-up to St. Michael’s. The survey revealed that St. Michael’s security was “staffed on the light side,” Soons says.

In addition to St. Michael’s beefed-up security, four Colchester police officers were present on campus the first weekend back. Although St. Michael’s security uses the police occasionally for back-up and as a transport for students entering protective custody and ACT 1, they did not invite them on campus that weekend.

“The first weekend back, the Colchester police had a presence on campus. Their focus was on alcohol enforcement, and that was independent of what we do,” Soons says. “The police will continue to do that as they see fit. We may or may not see them in the coming weekends, but that’s their call.”

Colchester police issued paperwork for underage alcohol possession to 32 students on Friday and Saturday. According to Soons, those numbers are well above the average for a typical weekend.

Students speak out

Senior Dave Miller was hanging out at his friend’s townhouse in the 100s when police came in and requested to see everyone’s ID. Miller hadn’t been drinking and everyone in the townhouse was 21 or older.

“We’re given that right, as seniors in a wet area, to drink and not to have to have this hassle of cops coming up and asking us for IDs,” Miller says. “The fact that the cops were there, it didn’t make sense at all, because we weren’t doing anything. Like we weren’t going nuts and climbing on the roofs or anything,” he says. “It was just a party.”

Although Miller understands the reasons for having police on campus, he says they have taken it too far.

“I guess it’s good from like a safety standpoint to have police; I mean it’s kind of comforting. But the amount that they are pursuing people, it just seems borderline ridiculous,” Miller says. “It just doesn’t make the campus fun when you see cops everywhere.”

Junior Meghan Harrington was one of the many students cited that weekend. She says she and about a dozen other students, half of whom are of legal drinking age, were hanging out in a friend’s townhouse, when Colchester police officers knocked at the door and asked to see everyone’s IDs. Harrington says the officers breathalyzed many of her underage friends and then proceeded to issue herself and others citations.

Colchester police issued paperwork to 32 students the first weekend back from winter break. (St. Michael's citation form)

Harrington says her experience with the officers was unpleasant.

“The cops were really disrespectful to all of us and they treated us like criminals, when really we were having two beers with our friends,” she says. “Security is ruining the community feel of St. Michael’s College.”

Junior Colleen Flynn was stopped by police after walking back at approximately 9 p.m. on Saturday from a party that she and her fellow business students had to plan as one of their class assignments. She hadn’t been drinking, but had one unopened beer that she had brought in her pocket.

Alcohol consumption at St. Michael's is strictly prohibited except for by students 21 and older in townhouses- the designated "wet areas" on campus. (Izabela Socha, photo)

“I hadn’t had a sip of alcohol at all that night and the police had to take my name and charge me with possession… I was just like ‘it’s one beer, are you kidding me?’” Flynn says. “The guy was really nice about it but it was really frustrating.”

Police are taking it too far by stopping people without a reasonable amount of probable cause, Flynn says.

“They’re stopping everyone that walks by, whether or not it’s drinking related. That’s a little out of control,” Flynn says. “But I think if they see someone stumbling that is like in serious danger...that’s when they should help out. Not if you’re walking by with a backpack on and you’re clearly healthy and you’re not falling over.”

 Students fight back

The police and security presence on campus has not gone unnoticed. A “Student Protest for Increased Rights” is being planned for Friday, Feb. 9, at noon on the library lawn. Flyers were distributed and Facebook invites were sent out last week for the event. As of Monday, the event had 122 confirmed guests.

Senior Andrew Gill organized the protest with the tag line, “This is a protest against the administration of this school. They force us to live on campus and treat us like babies. Searching our rooms and invading our privacy. The police unlawfully harass us at the behest of St. Mikes. We can change that.”

Soons says that although the Colchester police will not be here every weekend, security will continue to put up a strong front against underage drinking.

“As far as our staffing, we’ll continue to beef it up as much as we can afford to do it. We know that in the spring time, there are some busy weekends and we’ll schedule accordingly.”