11.17.2009

The PoTown PoPo?

So what's a good general reaction for the newest addition to what we have to look out for on the weekends: the Poughkeepsie Police. I've always had the philosophy that if you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing be to afraid of. But, as the semester gets more and more stressful and I make more and more bad decisions, I might have something to be afraid of. I became a little uneasy this weekend when I saw a cop car cruising near Main. I've gotten over being nervous about security but this was a whole new feeling of "oh shit."

I know it's been said that the police are not here to bust us for underage drinking and what not. They're here to keep us safe and keep all the booty-grabbers off campus. But I have to imagine that they have a responsibility to react if they see someone breaking the law. Will they do something if they see blatant underage drinking or someone supplying alcohol to minors? What will they do if they start to smell pot over by Sunset Lake? In the real world, we'd be arrested. Vassar has a nice bubble that keeps us from getting into too much trouble. But now the real world has entered Vassar and what's going to happen?

I guess my biggest question is how will the responsibilities be shared between the police and security? Are students going to have any interaction with the police at all? We should always be responsible for our actions. And despite our frustration on a Thursday night when we have a test in the morning and there are loud drunks outside of our window, no one wants to see a fellow Vassar student get arrested. Maybe we should all act a little smarter when we're outside as to not draw attention. Well, we're supposed to be doing that anyway to avoid security. But maybe be should think about doing it more now that the consequences of our behavior could be a lot harsher.

2 comments:

Mat Leonard said...

Yeah, I am really put off by them on campus too. Supposedly they are here to look out for "non-students," but how are they supposed to know who is a student and who isn't? Are they just going to stop random people? I don't like it.

Laura Riley said...

i'm happy they're here. hopefully their presence will significantly reduce the number of assaults on campus and prevent any suspicious characters from coming on campus. if their presence threatens vassar students from acting like drunken fools but keeps the entire campus safe then that's an exchange i'm willing to make.