The Observer, December 8, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 13
Role of Case Police Department needed
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
I recently read Steven Pieragastini's commentary on the transition of Case Protective Services into the Case Police Department. Pieragastini states that Case is buying into a "…culture of fear which is responsible for the long-standing mentality of shoot now, ask questions later in the police and security forces of our country." Let us ignore, for the moment, Pieragastini's arguments about other police forces; generalizing from four examples to the argument that all police departments use too much force is a flaw which speaks for itself.
Suggesting that Case Police Officers should not be granted as many lawful options as possible in carrying out their duties does a great disservice to the dedicated officers who work for the Case Police Department. I spent two years working as a member of the Residence Life staff of the university and encountered a number of different Case Protective Services officers in carrying out my job. Every one of them was a consummate professional. While most of the students lay asleep in bed, these men and women are patrolling throughout the campus and surrounding areas.
Pieragastini sidesteps the obvious facts of the area surrounding Case. Unfortunately for the officers on patrols in these areas (and for Pieragastini's argument), ignorance will not make crime, poverty, and depravity go away. As we all know, there were several robberies at gunpoint earlier in October. Shall we really ask the dedicated men and women of the Police Department to go on patrol without the tools to challenge those who break the law?
Finally, we must examine Pieragastini's assertion that "…revered and indispensable liberties are tossed aside for a false sense of security…" The arming of our security officers to better correspond to their patrol area and the duties which they may be called upon to carry out is not the disposal of liberty. It is the protection of it. We cannot ignore the fact that those around us who choose to break the law are acting to deprive us of our liberty. The police force is an expression of your right to defend that liberty.
Providing a greater variety of options to use in the protection of law-abiding citizens for the Case Police Department better protects those who serve and protect us and better protects us from those who choose not to obey the law.
Thomas Rehman
Undergraduate Student
