Campus Police

Working as police for a campus brimming with the brightest, most well behaved students of any college campus, how do you spend your time? At a college with an Honor Code which is strictly enforced, what do campus police do without having to break up wild parties, prevent underage drinking, or worry about drunk students racing in their cars at night? Let me tell you, even without all these typical problems to try and prevent, the life of a campus police officer can still get pretty exciting.

My interest in their busy work was sparked a month ago when I was walking along on my way to my 8:00 Living Prophets class when I saw a bike cop and a nice looking young lady (also on a bike) in what seemed like innocent conversation. Drawing nearer, I heard the bike cop say this (and when I say "bike cop" I hope you are not picturing a hefty looking motorcycle but rather a nice, lean, bicycle), "Were you aware that you were going 15 mph and that the speed limit on campus is 7 mph." I just watched as the girl innocently shook her head in genuine surprise and thought to myself, what a great man! If not for that brave campus police officer I am quite sure that innocent looking girl would have turned that pink bike of hers into a killing machine as she sped through campus rebelliously not observing speed limits. And to that I must tip my hat to him; just another hard day in the life of a campus police officer.

After this I decided I would look up some of the other hard crimes that these brave officers attend to everyday. Here are some examples of reports taken from the Police Beat:

• A student reported his backpack stolen. He found it later.
• A student was trying to scare girls in their dorm in Heritage Halls by knocking on the window. He broke the window, cut himself and needed stitches.
• A man claimed another man rammed him with a stroller at the bus stop. He believed the other man was cutting in line. The matter is under investigation.
•  Police found the words “question everything” painted on a partition in a men’s bathroom in the JFSB.
• BYU workers went to winterize a home owned by BYU and found the back door kicked in. Nothing was missing because nothing was in the house.
• Officers responded to a possible fight at the ITB. A couple was arguing about who would drive the car home. The woman was upset because her husband wanted her to drive. No crime was committed.
• A student was reported missing. When officers arrived, the student had returned.

As I'm sure yours did, my excitement grew as I read these reports to put up on my blog. Then, as I neared the more recent submissions, I beamed with joy to find that there was a report that I was apart of! It reads:

October 23: A Provo resident complained of loud “hooting and hollering” coming from the Creamery parking lot. The police arrived on the scene at 12:40 a.m.. Twelve students from Heritage Hall were listening to Beyonce; they were warned and released. 
My, oh my! I finally have my claim to fame! A couple weekends ago some friends and I were walking around when we saw a small dance party (all guys) out in front of Snow Hall. And when I say dance party I mean a bunch of guys sitting around while one or two would get up and in a very "interpretive" style, dance. We were listening to Single Ladies by Beyonce when two cop cars pulled up. Instinctively we turned down the music and waited for punishment. After a few minutes we were joking with the police officers and one of them had assured us that if he had not been in uniform he would have done the Single Ladies' dance for us. Let me just say, that we all walked away from that experience feeling quite rebellious. After watching those cop cars pull away, I just knew that I was living the wild and crazy college life every young adult dreams of. What more could I ask for?


To read more from the Police Beat, go to http://universe.byu.edu/index.php/category/campus/police-beat/