Pigs

Two weeks ago, I got a phone call. Daniel asked me to speak with a UMass police officer who questioned me about whether I knew where Daniel was. I indicated that, although I didn't know exactly where Daniel was, it was reasonable for him to be on the UMass campus and that I assumed he was staying out of trouble. Daniel and his friend arrived home after a short while and indicated that they'd been patted down by the police. We had some reservations about the legality of that, but rather than lodging a complaint, Alisa sent a note to the UMass police chief and asked if there could be a meeting where the police could explain their actions. On Tuesday, two officers came to North Star.

There were 15 or 20 students and parents waiting when the officers arrived. The meeting was initially frosty, but the students warmed to the officers and the was a good and honest give-and-take. The police explained that their primary goal when meeting a pre-college student on the UMass campus was to make sure that the student was safe. After some reservations, the audience largely accepted their story and asked a range of questions.

Several of the questions were really rather offensive. Students questioned the honesty of officers and whether they wouldn't lie about confiscating drugs to steal them for themselves. The officers were patient and made a convincing case that police officers are just regular people who are occasionally put in awkward circumstances and try to manage things to keep themselves safe first and foremost.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Catherine had the most insightful comment. She pointed out that both teenagers and police officers tend to be misunderstood and have poor reputations. It was really valuable for the police officers to win over the students and convince them that they could be allies and, at worst, to recognize that the officers needed to assure their own safety. At the same time, I though the students acquitted themselves well and learned a lot about how to defuse tense situations with the police -- the whole thing was a win-win for both sides.