Police Encounter Reports
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This is a POV page which contains opinions and viewpoints. |
[edit] Officer Chambers
Saturday, September 01, 2007
The six of us- 3 girls, and 3 boys, got out of the car carrying a gram of weed and two bowls. We got out of our car in lot 32. Officer Chambers stopped his police car next to our group, and started to interrogate us. "What are you guys doing here?" he started. "We know kids like to smoke around here,” he continued We art students told him that we just wanted to take a nature walk to collect three items to draw, which wasn’t an inaccurate statement.
"Can I search you?" "Do you mind if I search you?” he said. One member of the group let Chambers search him because he didn’t have anything on him.
"Who's got the weed? Look, I was in college once too, and I smoked pot. I know what the college atmosphere is like." - he said with a relaxed tone. I said I was going to call Justin Holmes. I called Justin, and the cop said, "Put the phone down. You can call him when we're done with the search.” The fuzzy part was whether he actually touched my phone to push it down, or he if just motioned my phone to become closed. I didn’t look at the cop, and he started to get frustrated. He touched my pocket containing my bowl, and asked, “What’s this in your pocket?”
“If you guys lie, and act like idiots, we’re just going to arrest you,” he threatened us.
"If you don't let me search you, I can get the canine dog to search you."
"If you don't let me search you, I can just arrest you," Chambers told us.
“I’m going to count to ten,” Chambers said, “and then I’m just going to arrest you.”
“Will we go on probation?” I asked the officer. “I’m going to take it up to the dean, and they’ll deal with it.”
As most of my friends pressured me to let him search, I dropped all my hesitations, and just gave him the weed in my back pocket.
“See,” he said, “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“Actually it was bad,” my friend Willy told him, after his bowl was confiscated as well. My friend Willy truthfully told officer Chambers it was his birthday, but Chambers didn’t share any sympathy.
-Andrew 11’
[edit] August 24, 2007 3:43AM
Below is a copy of a report submitted by Justin Holmes to Mark Portier, a village trustee who acts as liaison to the police commission.
Hey Mark.
Since you are the liaison to the Police Commission and I am a resident of the village, I am most comfortable sending this message to you on behalf of the commission.
Tonight (Friday, August 24th) at 3:43AM, I watched as two New Paltz police officers wrestled a sleeping student from Manny Lounge (a bench at the Northeast corner of the intersection of Plattekill Avenue and Main Street) and arrest him. I was able to discern no unlawful behavior on the part of this individual other than his having fallen asleep on the bench. One officer - a male whose name I did not get, walked by the student about 30 minutes prior to the incident - I had just finished asking the student if he was all right - he told me that he was not accustomed to drinking and had consumed a bit too much, but that he would be fine. He looked like he could have used a tall glass of water and a couple of crackers, but by no means was he a risk to himself or others. The male officer, upon walking by, joked to me that the student was "taking a nap" and let him remain without incident. I subsequently sat at this location for approximately 20 minutes.
As I watched the officers dealing with this student at 3:43AM, the level of force seemed excessive and the level of caring and understanding seemed lacking. The student was literally wrestled out of his sleep and into handcuffs. The belongings in his pockets were shaken onto the ground. At the time I was standing on the opposite corner - in front of Starbucks.
I ran over to the incident and tried to document it, but by the time I arrived the student was already in handcuffs and seemed to have no semblance of rights under the 4th amendment.
Then, a very disturbing thing happened: a female officer, who I later learned was Officer Janay Gasparini, Shield 157, asked another male officer to "get that guy out of here," referring to me. This of course caused me to become very tense and afraid, although I kept my composure and continued to document the incident.
I don't think that police officers realize how profoundly they can affect a person's emotional state with a seemingly small utterance. I don't like to drink or go to bars - rather, my weekend passion is for observing the culture and various paradigms of human interaction in New Paltz. As an activist and as a journalist, I take very seriously the mission of documenting interactions between government and citizens, and this remark made me feel as though I was doing something wrong. The male officer to whom she gave the instruction was much bigger than me and standing very close to me. Fortunately, he was very kind and worked to de-escalate the situation. Nevertheless, I felt very shaken for the rest of the night.
After building up the courage for more than an hour, I decided to go to the officer's car and ask for her name and badge number, which she politely gave to me without hesitation.
About five minutes later, she caught up with me as I was walking up main street toward my home. She told me that she did not want to be recorded, so I simply bid her a goodnight and she drove off. I can only assume that her intention was to make amends and I appreciate her efforts - I don't think most people would make such a move, especially at such a late hour. Frankly, she seemed very nice and genuinely concerned, and even though we didn't get to have any discussion, I do feel a little better for her having tried. Under normal circumstances, I would be happy to have a discussion in an off-the-record manner, but after this incident, I did not want to leave anything to chance. I don't think that Officer Gasparini acted in bad faith when she asked a fellow officer to get rid of me - it seemed quite instinctive and reflexive, but this does not make me feel any better. In fact, it makes me feel worse. I worry about the extent to which police officers - who are public officials and subject to public scrutiny for every minute of their work - fear or dislike being recorded. For a large percentage of police encounters, recordings by citizens would be of at least equal value to the police, and while I don't know about other journalists, I would be happy in most circumstances to provide copies of documentation of police incidents to all parties involved, including the police. This is not the first time I have run into flak from police officers for documenting their activities, but it is the one that was most frightening and awakening to me. I hope that police officers and citizen journalists can coexist seamlessly in New Paltz in the very near future.
I would appreciate any efforts on your part to ensure that the New Paltz Police Commission, the Chief of Police, and Officer Gasparini receive a copy of this report.
[edit] Saturday, August 26th, 2006
- Today, Three close high school-friends of New Palz students came to visit the campus to see their friends for the last time before they go off to their respective destinations. At approximately 11pm this evening, the three friends and several students walked across campus moving from the north side of campus walking towards Esopus hall to meet another friend who they wanted to see before their planned departure later that evening. As they walked, a campus police cruiser passed, and one of the friends made the poor decision to sprint in the opposite direction of the officers car, in order to observe how they would react. To the surprise and concern of the students and their friends, the officer gave chase, revving the engine of his car. The friend sprinted away into the woods near Esopus, evading them. The Police officer pulled up into the Esopus loop, and the friend ran away, crossing South Road on the lawn between Lenape Hall and West Parking Lot 37. The officer pulled up onto Hawk drive, and got out of his cruiser to give chase. The friend ran away from him for a moment, and then crossed the street to join his friends who were on the patio-area in front of Esopus Hall. The police officer sprinted to follow the friend, and crossed the street at a run. Having ran onto the grassy area beside the sidewalk in front of Esopus Hall, the officer slipped on the wet grass and went down. Getting back up, he kept running, but tripped on the curb at the edge of the loop and fell fairly hard on the pavement. The students and other friends who were standing near by and watching the scene unfold with much concern, asked the officer in a sincere tone whether he was okay and needed help. The officer stood up again, and radioed for back-up in a aggravated tone. The friend who was fleeing the officer had by now ran to the small parking-lot to the south, where the friend, who had realized far too late that he was done fooling around, stopped and allowed the officer and the back-up who had just pulled up to approach him. The same officer who had given chase immediately hand-cuffed him. The back-up pulled up to the friend, and two officers dismounted. The three officers surrounded the friend, and interrogated him in some fashion. Shortly, they brought him over to the second cruiser, and seated him in the back. By that point, the two other friends, and five other students from the freshman and sophomore class approached the scene to express their concern. The officers immediately responded with yells of "Clear out!" The students and friends further queried what would happen to their friend, and where met with yells of "Get the f**k out of here!" One of the students and two of the friends approached the officers further in order to inquire about their friends situation. The officer who had given chase approached the students, and in response to simple and honest questions of concern about their friends situation, as well as questioning whether as much force as was applied to the situation was truly warranted, the officer responded with aggressive rebuttals, challenging the students enrollment and threatening to arrest. The other friend and student who had approached the officers were met with similar reactions. The friend, who stated that he was not an enrolled student, was told that he was banned from campus permanently. Only when the friend repeatedly insisted he would leave on his own, and stated that he would be leaving the country within the week did the officer cease to attempt to take the friend into his cruiser and process him and escort him to an undefined area off campus. That friend then walked off. When one of the students requested information from the officers, one responded in a highly aggressive manner, "Who the f**k are you!?" and rushed him. The student's I. D. card was requested, the student produced it and his information was recorded. He was also told that he would be required to meet the dean, however the validity of that statement has yet to be verified. Shortly later, the friends and students all gave up hope of gaining any factual information about the destination of their friend, and left to return to the dorm building from which they originally departed. As they walked, the noticed the officers searching the grass in the general area, apparently searching for some dropped illicit material. The remaining parties then returned to the dorm building and made phone-calls to the family of the arrested friend, who were staying with a family friend in the New Paltz-Gardiner area. I post a narrative of these events only because I find them unsettling, and wish to see how other students respond. I understand that the officers had the right to persue and investige by the right of probable cause or suspicion, but I still don't feel like the situation was handled properly, considering the honest benignity of the situation. It was a poor decision of the friend to instigate, in any way, the attention of the officers,but was it in fair conduct to withhold information about the friend's situation to those who were responsible for him, and to treat honestly concerned students with great disrespect? If this situation in any way interests you, please respond by any means.
-Thank You. (posted by User:137.140.129.95
[edit] Encounter with UPD officer Gerry Kaleja
Today, Officer Kaleja came to let me into Scudder hall to grab my camera and a couple other things that I had left in a friend's room.
He was very polite and warm.
I came out of the hall and he asked me about my major and what I planned to do in life. He seemed very cool and down to earth.
I also saw this officer on 5/1 (my birthday actually) at the immigration protest outside the lecture center.
At one point, some disgruntled guy broke through the wall of boxes that had been constructed for the protest. A bunch of people were REALLY angry, and about 10 people immediately surrounded him and the situation was very close to a serious beat-down.
Officer Kaleja, along with Officer Robert Farrell, came over and broke it up in a very careful, intelligent way. They didn't force themselves between the parties, they kept their hands up in the air, and they did not get in anybody's way. They just made their presence known and slowly extracted the guy from the middle of the mob.
I have seen similar situations at protests, and sometimes the arrival of the cops is the event that turns an argument into a riot. These two handled themselves very professionally, especially Kaleja, who seemed to be taking the lead in this instance. President Justin Holmes 16:56, 25 May 2006 (CDT)
[edit] Student spoken to by Campus Police for Not Wearing Shirt on Campus
At 10:25 PM on Friday, May 19, a student was spoken to in the Honors Center for not wearing a shirt. The officer, who passed as male, reportedly said: "I am going to tell this to you nicely, this is a public space, but having your top off on campus? Is not ok." The student, passing as female, responded by saying: "in New York State, women have the right to show their breasts in a public space...men have breasts, too." He continued to speak to her for about five minutes in an aggravated tone. He told the student that she would not get in trouble, but that she should "use better judgement in the future, really." The student remained topless, and was not spoken to again.
- (Moved response to Talk:05/19/2006 Student spoken to By Campus Police for Not Wearing Shirt on Campus
[edit] Use Caution on 299
This incident dates back to the Spring 2005 semester, so I will do my best to recall the events accurately.
At around 12:30AM on a Monday morning I was driving back from visiting my girlfriend at school in Poughkeepsie. I had just reached a crest in the hill on 299 about a mile east of the Hess station, and noticed a vehicle about a 1/4 mile in front of me in the opposing lane suddenly veer to the side and slow down. I thought "here we go" and looked at my speedometer and noticed I wasn't speeding for a change. I passed the vehicle, noticing it was a State Trooper, and he immediately pulled a U-Turn and sped up behind me. He followed closely for about a 1/2 mile and put his lights on, and I immediately pulled over. I rolled down the window and put my hands on the wheel so I would not invite any late night trouble when I had already had an exhausting day. He came up to my window with another officer on the passnger side shining a flashlight into the vehicle, which is an understandable procedure. I gave him my license and other such info and he began with the standard questions. "Where you headin' tonight?" "Back to school," I said. "Where you comin' from?" "Visiting my girlfriend in Hyde Park at the Culinary Institute," I said. "You've been drinkin?" "Nope." "Any drugs in the car?" "Nope." (I actually had a zip-lock bag of prescription and non-prescription alergy medicine on the passenger seat that i tossed under a jacket before they approached my car...that woulda been a bitch of a situation to explain) "You know why I pulled you over?" "Nope." I decided not to inflame their cop mentality any further and just kept my cool. He asked me again where I was coming from and I told him the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park. He snapped a reply as he began walking back to his car to run my info, "I know where it is, my brother went there!" One word came to mind: Dickhead. After several minutes he came back, and asked me once again why I thought he pulled me over. I just said "speeding I guess." He said "yeah you were goin a little fast, you were hugging the white line a little bit." HUGGING THE WHITE LINE! As opposed to what? Driving in the lane? Well needless to say I received no ticket, and when you do not receive a ticket from a State Tropper you know you have done nothing wrong. A few months ago I got hit on the thruway for doing 76, and received 3 tickets and he had the nerve to say "I'm letting you off easy." (I'll write about that one after I go to court, it's much more interesting than my 299 story).
Just a word to the wise, use caution on 299. Their main objective is to bust people for DWI offences, and troopers will not cut you any slack.
-MY EXPERIENCE...... sorry. I was trying to make a new thread but couldn't figure out how but I wanted to tell my experience so I just added it here. This actually occurred about a year ago. It was either April or May of 2005. I am a commuter student and I had just finished classes for the afternoon at about 3pm. I noticed a police car sitting in front of the gymnasium building. I made a left out of the parking lot across from the old gymnasium. I then arrived at the stop sign at the corner and made a right hand turn onto whatever the long street is called that goes towards Lenape and the other newer residence hall. I immediately saw that same police car behind me with its lights on. I then pulled into a nearby parking lot and parked in a parking spot. The officer boxed my car in with his and slowly walked over to my car very cautiously, although he thought I was going to shoot him when he got up to my car. He asked for my license and registration and I showed him. After he saw everything was in order he explained to me that he had pulled me over because I failed to stop at that stop sign. He told me I never even touched the brakes because he never saw my brake lights go on. I politely explained that I am sure I must have at least touched the brakes so he had me touch my brakes to see if the brake lights were working. They did. He ended up telling me he was letting me go and told me not to go through stop signs anymore. I was happy at first when he let me go. After a few moments I realized there's absolutely no way I could have made that 90 degree turn without at, the very least, touching the brakes to slow down. I also noticed the police car before I arrived to the stop sign. Why would I blow the stop sign right in front of him? Furthermore, I always tend to stop at stop signs. I may tend to speed from time to time but I always stop at stop signs. Why was I pulled over then? Maybe I had been profiled and he needed an excuse. I'm not saying I was, but it's definately possible. Maybe he was thinking, "I hope this spic is doing something illegal right now." Maybe he couldn't see my brake lights because of he sun, though. Who knows. It wasn't my first time though. I have been harrassed and degraded by police before (but never arrested) so I tend to be pretty good at handling myself around them. It was my only experience with the campus police though and hopefully will remain so. I did once met a Town of NP police who felt he had the right to insult me for no reason, but that's besided the point. Anyway, back to my campus story. I didn't get his name or badge number and wouldn't really remember his face if I saw him again. All I remember is that he was a white male probably in his late 20's or 30's. That probably describes half of the UPD though. I have to say though, he wasn't that rude, especially once he realized I wasn't doing anything illegal. That's all. It's nothing exceptional but I just wanted to let you know about my experience with the campus police department. I feel all police should protect and serve rather than harrass and degrade but it's rarely like that. I think this page is a great idea and I hope everybody who has a story puts it up. Be safe everyone and watch out for the boys.
[edit] Community Service Story: Make sure your muffler doesn't get you busted.
A few months ago I was driving with a friend and I was pulled over by a state trooper. The police officer claimed that my muffler was sounding funny and loud. He then proceeded to search my car because of another claim that it smelt of marijuana. He told me if I didn’t allow the search he would call for dogs so I told the officer that there was a gram of pot in the car. Upon this I received a summons and a court date. The judge gave me a chance to “redeem” myself by cleaning up the streets of New Paltz for 14 hours, upon completion I would have nothing on my record and I wouldn’t have to pay a fine. I immediately accepted her proposal. So last Monday I woke up at 7:30 a.m. (earliest since high school) to start my day cleaning the trash that the Scum of New Paltz didn’t think was important enough to find a garbage can: the people who are too lazy to take those extra steps holding a cup, wrapper, napkin, can, bottle, condom, band-aid, newspaper, or a bag just until they see a garbage can.. Then there are the slick ones in the cars that throw napkins and bottles of urine out of window and unless there is a cop around drive off guilt free. This got me thinking of a story I heard not to long ago about this girl who peed in a cup and threw it out the window only for it to hit a state troopers windshield on accident. The girl was given a 400 dollar ticket. (That’s like the death penalty compared to mine) Sometimes these stealthy bastards may even scream something lewd while throwing it such as “eat shit” or “you suck”. (That really chaps my ass) I was scheduled to do 7 hours that day. Somehow I only had to really do 3. The supplies were crucial in getting my job done, without them I would have been nothing. Although I was not provided with all of them I was still able to complete the task. SUPPLIES… 1) 4 orange removal receptors 2) Ultra protective grip hand protectors 3) Metal pointy thing The third supply was at an unknown location when I arrived at my doom that cold morning. After my supplies, my executioner Andrew drove me around town for the next 20 minutes showing me what spots to get and giving me helpful tools on how to pick up my trash. What I thought was pretty interesting was that Andy as I like to call him, informed me that the orange bags I was using are recognized by the town loiter removal service so I can leave them anywhere I want and they’ll be picked up. I was very pleased with this news because if I had to carry around 3 full bags of garbage while trying to pick up gum wrappers from mindless, sexually transmitted disease carrying twits I would have been very very very angry at the “system.” So I started at this valley near the thru-way, right across from the Sunoco station. It was a good thing I wore my thorn proof suit because all of the garbage was piled in nothing but thorn bushes. (Prickers as andy called em’) I found many different things in the trash as I picked it all up. From MCDONALDS cups, dunkin donuts trash, burger king crap, pizza shit, newspaper propaganda, Budweiser and bud light gifts from god, and what I thought to be fitting considering the crime was that I found 10 empty bags of marijuana in those “PRICKERS.” After around a half hour I finished this one really bad spot and walked around the valley up the road. A former inmate had cleaned it earlier but he didn’t do the job that well. I guess he really wasn’t sorry for his crime. Then after around 45 minutes to an hour of bending my bad back down and down picking up big business’s trash because I lacked supply number three (*Metal pointy thing), the best part of my day happened. I snatched like 4 pieces of garbage at once (like a champ) and there it was, and dirty, crumpled, torn, $1 BILL. I almost started to jump for joy but I held in my emotion so cars passing wouldn’t be like “wow, that kid seems happy and call me gay”. Then I proceded to walk down main street into town on the north side of the road breaking my ass picking up crappy as MCDONALD’S cups. I hope there is a regulation so that those companies have to pay for trash removal of all the shit they manufacture. (ESPECIALLY MCDONALDS) At this point I’ve calmed from the pure hatred I felt for all those who dare toss what they see as meaningless materials on this glorious globe and I’ve started to think of what kind of a person would do such a thing. Do they have families that condone this behavior? Are these parents? And are they teaching their children its okay to toss your crap aside? Are they dumb kids that don’t know any better? Are they crack heads that don’t know what they’re doing because all they can think about is getting they’re hands on that ROCK? Are they hippies? Take that back, THEY’RE DEFINITELY NOT HIPPIES!! Are they police officers that in an ironic twist do it just so there is a punishment for society’s outcasts like me? Was it the Judge that sentenced me? Whoever they are I would like to be locked in a room with them for just 10 minutes so I can tell them that garbage is not meaningless. Its slowly killing the environment in which your relatives billions of years from now will die from. So what you won’t be around and it wont even matter to you or anyone you know. IT MATTERS YOU THUG!!!!!! Now As I fill the 3rd convenient orange receptor I make the turn up 208 towards the entrance to the school. Here I’m cleaning up trash in front of the homes of the hooligans. The guilty party is right behind the door I’m walking by and I cannot do anything about it. I would have to say this is where I learned my lesson of the day. The stabbing pain I felt not being able to punish the guilty party was exactly what I needed to get me to stop smoking pot. It was instant rehabilitated. Okay maybe that’s a little far fetched, I still smoke pot and I don’t think it’s possible to stop someone by making him or her clean up garbage. Anyhow I started my 7-hour day at 8 a.m. and I was finished my work by 11 a.m. ANDY my dog hooked me up with 4 extra hours of free service but I didn’t tell him that it wasn’t completely free because I got that 1-DOLLAR. (HELL YESSS) The best part of getting that dollar is that I used it while on duty to buy a cigar, which I filled up with pot and smoked during what would have been my lunch break if I hadn’t been such an efficient worker. At this point I would like to thank Judge Judy for giving me the opportunity to make a change in my life, but for the officer that pulled me over I wish nothing but harm. In conclusion I would like to offer some words of advice brought to you by one of my good buddies Snoop Dog “Hey Hey hey, Smoke weed everyday”, just make sure your muffler is on and sounding okay. Daniel Cloghessy
[edit] Various Encounters with Michael Sodders
I've run into Officer Michael Sodders quite a few times, including a "ride-along" with him on November 5, 2005.
He is a very nice, thoughtful person from what I can tell. He has not been a police officer for all that long - he graduated from the academy in 1999 I believe. He is interested in tax law, music, and philosophy.
On one occasion he was a bit agressive with me, but understandably so. I was observing an encounter wherein he and other officer were searching three girls (non-students) who had been in an altercation with some other students, and when I refused to leave the scene he grew a bit agitated. However, when I explained who I was and why I wanted to watch he calmed down.
Our ride-along was very interesting. We just drove around and he showed me the places on campus that he feels are dangerous - places where pedestrians walk on roads with fast cars, dark places where people walk, and others.
We spoke the whole time about a wide array of topics - from the piano to drug policy to the role of the state in higher education and many other subjects.
I'd highly reccomend getting to know him or participating in a ride-along if you can. Justin Holmes (Senate Chair) 10:32, 8 March 2006 (CST)
[edit] Failure to identify 11/20/2005
At around 9pm on Sunday, November 20, 2005, I witnessed a police officer driving car 203 (I’m told it was the infamous Officer Ferrell) pulling over a young lady behind the Bouton Hall Dormitory. I acquired a digital camera and decided to photograph the scene for this wiki. I went down the steps and arrived outside where I attempted to find the best lighting for the photo. I lined up the photograph, but considering how dark it was outside combined with the flash of the police car strobe, the photo was too dark to distinguish anything outside of the bright flash. I took a couple pictures anyway, just to have done it. Soon after I took the first picture, the officer looked at me briefly and sat down in his car. He stayed there till another police car showed up. This was Car 205, and the officer driving the car refused to give me his name, insisting that I read it off his very tiny name tag with out the aid of any light source. Despite asking the officer for his name several times, I was unable to get it from him or make it out on his tiny name tag. The officer had an aggressive manner and was very rude without any sort of reason. He asked me what I was doing, to which I responded, "Photographically documenting this event," gesturing towards the camera as validation of that. He replied, "What event?". I said, "The police officer over there pulled someone over, you see (I pointed to the other car, and continued to motion like I was taking pictures)". "For what reason," he inquired, but without allowing me to reply, he continued "Give me your ID." I gave him my ID, and then I asked why he needed it, he told me to answer his question. "I wanna document this, and now your part of it too, do you mind if I take your picture" I said, but I knew he wasn’t pleased with my reply. He told me not to take his picture stating that he dosent pose for photos, to which I replied that I was going to take the picture whether or not he posed for it. He probed further with, "Why are you taking pictures". I told him "I think it is important for us to have a reliable account of police officers doing things that police officers do." He told me to be quiet, but I responded with "what is your name officer" he again gestured the butt of his flash light towards the id tag, and I explained that I could not read it in this dark light as I did not have a maglight handy, I asked for his name again, not waiting for his response I leaned in extra close trying to read it, but for the life of me I could not read it in the darkness. He quickly turned away. He called in on his radio and attempted to validate my ID information. He asked me for my date of birth, and then he walked around his cruiser and sat in the driver’s seat. By this time another officer had joined the party. There were now three police cars at the scene of a traffic stop in the loop behind boutian. I asked for his name again and he told me to be quiet. I know I had no legal need to be quiet and asked his name again, and why he needed to run MY ID, he failed to respond to my queries, keeping up an attitude that was obviously geared towards intimidation. I fought his attempted intimidation with a wide smile and interested attitude. I again asked for his name, but he again refused to verbalize it, insisting that I walk around to driver side of his cruiser to reclaim my ID. I asked him for his name to be spoken to me one more time, adding that I already had his car number so it was more of a courteous gesture than a necessity that I have his name. He did not respond, so I added “I'm going to have to report this incident to the wiki” he said “go ahead” and quickly left.
I want to be perfectly clear when I say that the behavior of this officer was completely unacceptable. His attitude was condescending, rude, disrespectful, aggressive, confrontational, and inappropriate for someone who is supposed to be a dignified officer of the law, and a member of the community. This officer needs to learn how to behave, and that said, he was a total dick. --Young (common spelling), Jacob (common spelling) initial: R Verybakedpotatoe 21:06, 20 November 2005 (CST)
[edit] Deyo 323, 10/02/05
I live in a suite in Deyo hall with all 18 year olds and I am 22 years old. I had 4 friends from home and one from Newburgh (10 mins down 32) up to visit the first weekend of school this semester, all of whom were of the drinking age. We were drinking in my bedroom, but it was one of those hot-as-hell nights so we all needed to go outside and get some air. We brought our beer with us and went to the stage-bench around the pond. I did not know we aren't allowed to drink around the lake because in my home town we can drink in all of the parks.
So anyway, my friends and I are having some fun and just drinking a beer each when 2 guys on bikes ride by us. They headed to the benches under the willow trees and proceeded to get off the bikes and just sit on the bench. We figured they were doing what everyone else on the campus does on those benches so we continued drinking our beer - which by the way we were not trying to hide, they were plain old budweiser bottles. So my friend from the dorms, who was also a little tipsy, came down to the lake and joined us.
As we were all getting ready to head back into the dorms my friend started telling us a story how he was almost arrested last semester around the lake but ended up getting away with it. At this point my friend from Newburgh finished his beer, walked to his car in the Business building parking lot and drove home. We all started walking back to the dorms when the two boys on bikes rode up next to us and hopped off their bikes and started walking next to us.
As they walked they sorta started laughing and then proceeded to say "you know that story you were just saying about almost getting arrested?... well.. DROP EVERYTHING PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND INTERLOCK YOUR FINGERS." Me and one of my friends started laughing cuz we thought this guy was some asshole joking around... we were like what the hell is he arresting us for?? We weren't smoking! Sure enough 2 cop cars came zooming down the street behind us, we were all cuffed and thoroughly searched. They found nothing but gave us all 'open container' tickets. The 2 cops who were on bikes were very young and in t-shirts and jeans. They were both on testosterone trips while arresting us the whole time, you could totally tell they loved arresting us.
My mother is a lawyer and i work in a police office over the summers and i must say i have never ever met any ruder cops than the 2 young guys on campus this semester. I appreciate having protection on campus - especially when my friend walks from Deyo to Lenape by herself at 2am every night. But they aren't protecting us this semester, they are harrasing us. The older cops that wrote me my ticket were friendly and calmed me down a bit. Also when my car was hit in the parking lot by an asshole driver the older cop I worked with was very nice and helpful. these two young guys though - we need to do something about them!!
This was the first time I ever had cuffs on and I feel there was no reason for it! Also, why would they not have gone for the person who was driving drunk. My friend who walked to his car should have been the person to get harrassed... not the 5 people walking drunk - but we were walking so we were sure targets. That makes me feel great that these officers were watching us the whole time, watched a guy get in his car and drive away but didnt stop him because.....why???? Why go for the wwi (walking while intoxicated) versus the guy dwi (driving while intoxicated)... FUCKED UP!
(note: Could someone find out the names and badge numbers of the officers who were being rude and / or failed to immediately identify themselves?)
[edit] Bouton 239, 9/24/05
A bunch of people were in my room just hangin around not causing any trouble. As my roomate was leaving the room with his friends two police officer stopped them and took them back to the room and discovered everybody in the room. They made all of us step out of the room and sit on the floor while they searched our room without our conscent. They claimed that the hallway stunk of pot, when WE DIDNT EVEN SMOKE IN THE ROOM. They proceeded to search the room and found a miniscule amount of stems and seeds. Everyone's person was searched and nothing was found so they were released. My roomate and myself were then detained for Unlawful Possesion of Marijuana.
There were two officers there. It was kind of the typical good cop, bad cop deal. The officer that was doing his best to intimidate everyone was P.O Robert Farrell. They took advantage of us and searched our room without our conscent and gave us a UPM for STEMS AND SEEDS, which is the most outrageous charge i have ever heard of in my life. They also didnt read us our Miranda rights.
My roomate and I now have to appear in court and most likely get ACoD's.
[edit] Southern Loop, 09/23/05
I was driving home from work.. clearly not drinking/smoking/doing anything and I was dropping a friend off at Southside who works with me. I get out of southside and I drive toward campus to visit a friend and I notice a car behind me doing an obnoxious U-turn and speeding after me. I get on campus and I notice that it's UPD behind me and I was not doing anything wrong and all of a sudden lights are flashing and I'm being pulled over. The guy gets out of his car and asks where I'm coming from.. and of course I say, "work." And so he says, "You were coming from Southside, were you at a party cause I don't think you were "working" there? I need your license and registration" So I'm like, "NO, I'm coming from work. Why am I being pulled over?" THe cop proceeds to question me about whether or not I was actually working, where I had the beer in my car, and how much I had drank without even telling me why I was being pulled over until I took off my jacket and showed him I was still in my uniform. Then he turns and looks at his partner still in the car and laughs, doesn't even take my license and registration and says "nevermind" and walks away. One word.. ASSHOLE.
[edit] Bouton 227, 9/17/05
Police officers knocked on my door at around 10:20 pm. They said that they could smell marijuana outside of my door and told me to hand over whatever i had. They entered my room and patted down my boyfriend who was visiting me for the weekend. I believe they looked through my roomates posessions and threatened to search my room. I handed over whatever I had and they arrested me for posession. They made my boyfreind sign a form that labeled him "Persona non Grata" which means he can never return to Campus.
There were two cops there. One of them was nice and hardly said anything. The other was P.O. Robert Farrell #27. He was the one who was threatening me. My personal belief is that they took advantage of the fact that i was scared, yet cooperating, and they took advantage of this to make an example out of me. I knew none of the rights that I had on campus and they didn't read me my rights either because they said "Miranda laws are only needed if you are a suspect, but because you admitted to what you did, we didnt have to say them." They harassed me to answer their questions before my boyfriend realized I didn't have to answer them.
I feel like I was extremely mistreated by the cops here. I will be speaking to the lawyer on campus about this before I have to appear in court this Wednesday.
I went to court last night and the Judge was very lenient with me. The charges were dropped and now im under a kind of Disciplinary Probation like I am here at New Paltz; and she dropped the fine. However, If I am ever to get another drug charge while im a student, ill face more severe penalties and have all my finacial aid taken away from me, for which I am no longer eligible.
[edit] Southern Pond, 9/1/05
At about one in the morning on September first of this year, my friends and I were walking around the pond. Admittedly, we were doing what a predominant amount of the student body does on a regular basis. Just over the bridge, a voice pops out of the background, demanding we stop. Between then and turning around, my roommate had shoved the blunt into her mouth and swallowed. The evidence was disposed, the cop did not see. But, were we in the clear?
We turn around, and immediately, we are told to put our hands on our heads. We are cuffed and *then* searched. Upon finding nothing, we are taken into the station anyway. The other two friends we had with us were told to go home, as the officer had "not seen the blunt being passed to them". What?
The police officer (Williams was the man who initially started the fiasco) told us that A was getting a misdemeanor for "being hard to deal with". His idea of being hard to deal with was asking why we were being arrested in the first place. He insisted he smelled and saw something, but without evidence, how could he legally bring us in?
We were questioned. And intimidated. Our friend S was caught having a fake ID, adding another charge on. In the middle of the intimidation process (mind you, prior to questioning us, they read us our rights off of a flashcard!), S turns to A and tells her she has nothing to say to them.
One angry officer looks at him, tells him he is getting the misdemeanor, and A was getting the violation.
We eventually left the station, myself and my two roommates pinned with UPMs, and our friend S the lucky recipient of a UPM and a misdemeanor. They are trying to kick him out of school. We all have ACoDs. All for *suspected* marijuana use.
I'm writing a complaint against the officer, as is everyone who was
involved. This entire thing is completely unconstitutional. The dean
told me that they are just upholding state and federal law, but frankly,
I didn't know the Gestapo were back in style.
-Charly Saccoccio
-not to be defending the UPD assholes, because believe me, I know they really are dicks - but as far as the flash card comment is concerned - they have to read you your rights off a card. They legally must read (not recite)your rights whether they and or you know the whole thing by heart. - and the card that is used does look like a flash card and often is a flash card. - just something to know. -SA
[edit] State-ial profiling
This one dates back a few years, but the thought of it still ticks me off. It was Spring 2004. I was driving down towards North Chestnut on the road by hasbrouk park one old main. I was to the first stop sign with the weird hill by old main. Came to a full stop, used my directional to go left, saw the upd on the opposite side, and did absolutely nothing wrong. After a full stop, I proceded to turn left, and what do I see in my rear view mirror? UPD pulling a U turn behind me. I immediately pull over, and big surprise...he pulls over behind me. After making me wait several minutes, probably as an intimidation factor, he comes to my window and rudely says Sir, are you aware that in the state of NY, it is illegal to drive while using a hand held cell phone? (I'm from NJ). I informed him that I was aware, and he asked if I was just using a hand held cell phone. I said I was not, and he continued to question me, asking if I was sure, and if I had a phone with me. My passenger and I looked at eachother in complete confusion. He still asked to see my license and registration with absolutely no reason. I handed it to him with a PBA family member card, at which point he became a completely different person, and handed it right back to me and said I could go. (still no apology, but at least he didn't try running my license.) And that's my story. I'm convinced I was singled out for being from NJ, and convinced he changed his mood after seeing I had a cop in the family. PS...I was NOT on a cell phone.
[edit] Plattekill Avenue, Unknown Date
I was driving over to my gentleman friend's house at like 3am, and he lived just across from shango hall, so campus cops were on his street all the time. as I'm driving I notice a cop car is following me. I park my car unfettered (I hadn't been drinking.. and booty calls aren't against the law). The cops stop me as I am walking. "Where are you going?" they ask. "A gentleman friends" I mutter. "Why did you take Lookout?" they ask. "I was coming from north chestnut" I replied, starting to get frustrated, it was cold, I was in my pajamas, and I wanted to get inside. They continue questioning me, though. "That doesnt explain why you would have taken Lookout" they continue, "have you been drinking?" Now i start to get frustrated and admittedly.. quippy. "I took lookout so I could park on the side of the street where I won't get a ticket in the morning" I said beginning to lose patience. "WHat do you do this a lot?" replies one officer. Essentially, he was calling me a slut. "yes, as a matter of fact I do" I said, and just left, walking inside his house. I don't know why I even allowed them to talk to me for so long. They had no reason to stop me, no reason to question me... and they made me feel pretty crappy - user:Jennabug
Message to this user: I'm doing a project in the form of a narrative journalism radio story for one of my classes about "safety" on campus, or lack thereof. Your account really stood out to me, and I think it would be a great thing to include in my project. Let me know if you'd be interested. My name's Heidi and you can email me at heidivanderlee@gmail.com.
[edit] A different kind of Enctounter
About two weeks ago, I was delviering Chinese Food on Campus. I was driving with a busted headlight, and during the course of the night, I was pulled over pulled over behind Lefevre. The officer asked for my Driver's Liscence and my registration, and then asked if I lived in the building. I told him no and that I was just working for the night delivering food for China House. The cop sighed and said, "Promise to get the headlight fixed tomorrow?" "Of course" I said. He told me to have a good night and was on his way. I didn't catch the officer's name,(farrell) but he was extremely nice and understood my situation. I should have gotten a ticket, but the cop was nice and let it slide. This is proof that not all exncounters with Campus Police are negative.
