A Look at Safety and Security
by Andrew Grossman

Although not chronic, cases of abuse by S&S officers are a motif throughout campus. Given the absolute power that an officer, the authority figure, has over any nearly student, it is inevitable that some abuses of power will occur, leading to a more fundamental question: does S&S best serve the needs of the campus or would another form of security be a better fit? Like the pseudo-doctors at Dick's House who relish diagnosing unusual, exotic, and improbable diseases in the most healthy of students, many S&S officers seem to enjoy assuming the worst of the most upstanding students, including extreme drunkenness, violent behavior, and dishonesty. Eventually, a serious (newsworthy) incident will occur, and the college will be forced to take action. As mundane as the following examples may seem, to me they represent glowering abuses of power and incredibly poor judgement of the part of the officers involved. Whether through sensitivity training, disciplinary actions, suspension, or firing, this is a problem that must be addressed for the sake of the entire community.

De Moya's abuse raises several questions to which there is currently no clear answer. First, in what situation is an S&S officer justified in calling the police? While we could all agree that it was clearly not necessary in this case, there are situations that cannot be handled “on campus” and require assistance. S&S officers should not be able to use police involvement as a threat towards the students they are supposed to be protecting which they can as long as the call completely is at their discretion. Second, why was the officer even harassing de Moya to begin with? As a Dartmouth student, he should have been believed when he claimed to have not been drinking and that the alcohol was not his. In the absence of a serious situation (extreme drunkenness or unreasonable behavior) why would the officer even have done anything more than disposing of the alcohol? On the whole, S&S's actions in this case seem to be completely out of line with the infraction. One wonders what would have happened had de Moya really been intoxicated.

“I was extremely courteous and helpful; I obeyed every demand they imposed and was graciously cooperative when they asked me to take care of a bunch of idiotic tasks like getting on my hands and knees and cleaning up a mountain of paper that my roommates had prepared for the fire. One of the S&S officers cornered me and started demanding information about a student I didn't know; the officer thought that he was being rude when he exited. He actually thought he shouldn't have been there because it wasn't his room. Although completely respectful and submissive, his actions were interpreted as disobedient.

“She kept yelling at me, commanding me to reveal the student's name which I sincerely did not know. I told her where he lived, down the hall. She became more and more aggressive, until she threatened to slap this infraction on me if I didn't produce a name. I am convinced that this was a blatant lie, and hope that it is against S&S rules.

“She grew more and impatient until she started swearing at me, which I am certain is not allowed; I felt that my rights were violated by this indecent and offensive language. Especially considering how unbelievably sycophantic and courteous I was trying to be.

“I softly and carefully told her I simply did not know his name and that I could make one up if she wanted. She radioed in to slap the kid's charges on me. Eventually she let me lead her to his room where we learned his name.

“Later, when my friends arrived back, I gave them an animated account of my mistreatment. At the peak of my tale, we hear knocking on the door, and the S&S officers storms in. Apparently, she had been listening in on my story and was not amused that I was critical of her treatment. She proceeded to accuse me of dishonesty, interference and several other charges, that I simply did not commit. She said we might not be fined, but that disciplinary charges would definitely be brought against me. I had `no right to be discussing the matter with other students.' If I had a problem with S&S, I ought to bring my opinions to them. Right. She stormed out.”

Again, a shocking display of power, and, this time, against a Good Samaritan who had tried to take responsibility and help S&S with a potentially dangerous situation. It's not even clear that a violation of any rule was broken. Why, then, did this crazed S&S officer treat Abramson like a culprit? Although it's possible that the officer was just having a bad day, this is still not a valid or reasonable excuse. Inner city policemen, who consistently deal with more serious crimes than have ever occurred in Hanover, usually act with an air of professionalism and courtesy that seems to be lacking among the S&S force. While a real policeman would usually be reprimanded for such an incident, this is not a concern for most S&S officers. With such a close-knit organization, it seems unlikely that the complaints of a mere student would cause any friction. An outside, independent authority with student representation would be an impetus for officers to always be on their best behavior, but, sadly, such a council does not exist.

This situation, however, is one that would not have occurred in the “real world.” Hired security guards are never given the illusion of absolute authority that many of our S&S officers seem to enjoy. It must be understood that their role in the Dartmouth community is not that of a police officer but that of a peacekeeper. For serious, criminal offences the Hanover police department is always available and should be contacted when necessary. Exclusively, the S&S force should work to forestall crime and promote safety. If this is not made clear only more incidents of this sort will result. The S&S team is here to serve and protect the Dartmouth community; any officer that doesn't accept this as their job description should either leave or be fired, before they have the chance to abuse, threaten, and humiliate more students.