Editor’s note: The length requirement was waived due to space availability.
Police still letting down students
In response to Kacey Mullaney’s Campus Forum submission, “Campus Police let down,” a recent incident of my own underscores her concerns. On Monday night, I was driving my car from the full North Hall lot to Central Campus. As I sat on Enterprise Street (between North Hall and Sadlack’s Heroes), waiting for the Hillsborough light to change, two men approached my car. One walked around the back of my car and the other came to my window. While I locked my doors and opened my window just a crack, the guy asked me if I could give them a ride to the library. Responding, “Sorry, I can’t,” I started to pull through the intersection on green light, just as I heard a loud crack, which turned out to be the second man trying to pry my gas cover open with a PVC pipe.
I immediately pulled into the Belltower parking lot and called campus police. The dispatcher asked my location, and when I explained I was on Enterprise Street, she said, “That may not be our jurisdiction; let me check. [pause] I’m sorry, Enterprise Street is not on campus. You’ll have to call Raleigh Police.”
The Campus Police Web site states, “The jurisdiction of the North Carolina State University Police Department includes all property owned or leased by N.C. State University and that portion of any public road or highway passing through the campus and immediately adjoining the campus.” Shouldn’t sitting right next to North Hall then, constitute “Immediately adjoining the campus?”
But even this analysis begs a more important question: Is the proper response to a distress call to Campus Police a time-consuming, legalistic assessment of jurisdiction? Rather, shouldn’t the priority of Campus Police, when in doubt or otherwise, be to serve and protect the NCSU community? Why is jurisdiction important when someone is endangered?
What would have happened if I had been mugged? Would Campus Police still have deferred their response? I fully understand that each police force has its boundaries, but safety of the NCSU community must come first. I ask Capt. Jon Barnwell, what is the rule, and why can’t students adjacent to campus have some assurance of Campus Police assistance absent the concern over what street the Police have to cross to get there?
Daniel ClaffSophomore, civil engineering
Weekends could be more stressful
In response to Matthew Morse’s column about the rare relaxing weekend, I only have this to say: I wish that the most stressful part of my weekends was deciding which party to attend.
Gary StevensJunior, computer science
