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The New Hampshire > Opinion

UNH police need a new strategy

By TNH Editorial Staff

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Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Four physical assaults have been reported in the first two months of the school year. Four. In the entire 2008-2009 school year, that number was zero, according to campus alerts on the UNH police department’s website. The sudden increase calls for a new approach: police officers need a new plan to patrol the Durham streets, protect UNH students and stop another assault from happening again this year.

As previous articles this year have stated, the UNH and other local police departments have increased their focus this year on preventing underage drinking and public drunkenness in hopes that by limiting those offenses, violent crimes will be avoided altogether.

Clearly, it’s not working.

The state has doled out $6,000 to the UNH, Durham and Lee police departments to allow undercover officers to hide in the woods in order to catch young drinkers. The state brought the only DUI mobile to UNH’s Homecoming weekend and more than 100 arrests were made – many of them drinking related – in five-day period.

While the typical college student might find either or both of those decisions irrational or unethical, if the result is a safer public environment on campus, the trade-off is worth it. No matter how many people are arrested for alcohol-related offenses, there’s some credibility and argument in favor of the police in Durham if violent crimes are wiped out.

That’s not the case here. Four assaults in two months is, frankly, a scary and chilling realization that maybe we aren’t as safe as we thought in this small college town. The most recent case, where a reportedly unprovoked student was kicked and beaten right into the emergency room is further proof that the police officers need to concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

We assume the UNH police are taking these assaults seriously; they are trained law enforcement officers and we trust that they can handle a problematic situation like an ongoing assault.

But this weekend’s case, as well as the three others, all happened either outside in public view or in an on campus dormitory. The police obviously can’t see these things coming, but they need to be positioned to respond to the scene immediately.

Come out of the woods officers; the student body’s peace of mind is at stake.

Comments

9 comments
Your name
Sat Nov 7 2009 15:02
Just so you people know, at least 2 of the reported assaults including the one from Halloween night involved groups of 3 or more males jumping a single student on his way to his dorm and then beating him severely. Quit it with the "boys will be boys" attitude and calling these incidents "fights". We all know what a fight is and these were not fights!
Cop on every corner?
Sat Nov 7 2009 07:40
While I respect this article and the author’s opinion and way of thinking, I have a different view. What do you want them to do, put a cop on every corner? The police can't be everywhere all the time. They can only do so much to be proactive, and unfortunately a lot of the time they become reactive to a call instead. This string of assaults has nothing to do with the way police are doing their job. If you ask me, it has to do with the morals of the people on this campus. You would be surprised to see how alcohol arrests can curb violence. I guarantee many fights fueled by alcohol consumption have been avoided due to people seeing a UNH or Durham cruiser roll by. It makes them think twice. Let's start blaming those who are involved and those that do not call these things in instead of the stereotypical “blame the police” opinion.
Concerned in NH
Thu Nov 5 2009 11:32
@member of 1989 .... the result of glorification of violence in such events as MMA fighting has to be the biggest influence on young men that become aggressive. This aggression can easily translate to being violent with the opposite sex, a concern everyone should be aware off. Aggressive and angry behavior should be monitored it's only a matter of time before these types of people do things they cannot control. If they feel they are always being watched and monitored by other piers they will see less glory or clout by acting this way. Boxing was always considered violent sport but I would say it looks like a gentlemens game compared to backyard wrestling, mma, and street fighting. This may seem a little too cliche to say, but if you ever have seen the Saw movies there is a line I always remember that stuck with me that I have equated to why one person willing to beat another person to a pulp may be acceptable in the mind of the aggressor "it is amazing what the human body can endure and survive, I seek to take that to the limit of what the body is capable of" the movie quote is very close to that paraphrase. There is not doubt gang type violence has many influences not in all cases, but most would reveal drug use, alcoholism, mental instability that is untreated, chemical imbalance, family influence, entertainment influence, video game or simulated violence. Not all people willing to fight fall into the grasp of those catalysts but you would find in a character profile most do. People on campus need to be aware that evil is not negotiable, and that the justice system that currently hands out slaps on the wrist does not help this problem at all, even empowers it to an extent. Be vocal, keep your eyes open, and socially chastise behavior that could lead to these types of events. Someone left in the cold by their piers taking a stand against their behavior would hopefully see then that their actions cause the strife not the others around them. Always remember there is safety in numbers when walking in the dark, and not just on a college campus everywhere in society.
Yeah
Tue Nov 3 2009 15:55
This article is dead-on. The police are too busy hiding in the woods trying to bust 20 year old drinkers instead of protecting the students. Where were the police during the rash of car thefts a year or two ago? Most likely hiding in the woods, wasting time, money and energy. We need a REAL police force, not the joke we currently have.
Clark Kent
Tue Nov 3 2009 14:32
The state didn't dole out the money for the "Hide in the woods" program, the United Way of the Greater Seacoast, a private nonprofit organization, did. The town/police accepted the grant, but with the agreement with the United Way money was used towards policing/reducing underage drinking.

You guys reported that....

tangerine
Tue Nov 3 2009 14:12
I agree with the 1989 alum. People get in fights. People will always get in fights. Let's get over it.
August
Tue Nov 3 2009 09:28
"We ASSUME the UNH police are taking these assaults seriously"

I don't like the use of the word assume here, it should be "know". They're police officers and it is their job to take this seriously, as you go on to state. The use of assume here implies skepticism or doubt of an unfavorable kind which will offend the police and offends me as well.

Still, I am in agreement with the overall message of this article. As a recent, as in last year, alum of UNH I am shocked to keep reading all of these reports. As you say, there were no, as in 0, attacks in the 2008-2009 year. I will, however, say the following: I am not overly surprised. The UNH police do not have a very visible presence on the campus at night. I lived in a different dorm every year while at UNH and rarely, if ever, saw police at night near my dorms, except at the Gables. As far as near the academic buildings are concerned, I would see the occasional car parked at Kingsbury, but that was it. We all know the police are downtown. I am not jaded about this, I was never arrested for drinking nor do I care if they arrest drunk kids being stupid. But I do agree that if I have to choose between a freshman getting drunk and a kid being sent to the hospital, the choice is fairly clear on my end. It's time for Durham and UNH police to patrol the campus. I don't expect a guard every 100 feet, I am not ignorant of the limitations placed on the police as a whole. But a patrol every so often would be a good idea. One I, and others, can actually see. The police are correct that bystanders have a responsibility to report these crimes. Those are your classmates getting beaten. However, we are not the law-enforcement officials, they are. In the end it is their responsibility.

Mike
Tue Nov 3 2009 08:43
Waaaah-h-h!

I'm not happy! Fix it!

If you're going to talk about problems, how about proposing some solutions? Are you advocating higher tuition costs to pay for the gains in safety? Since most students DON'T get attacked, most students will oppose that. Most students wouldn't want to see more officers walking around, or IN their dorms. Maybe the question is, then, how to have it both ways?

I have to wonder if we're simply more aware of assaults because the law now mandates the campus alerts we see, when an assault takes place.

I also have to wonder, if 2 students get into a fight, does that constitute an assault? If so, things have changed. As a kid, I remember 2 high school students fighting within sight of an officer who was controlling traffic. Somebody brought it to his attention, and he said, "So, let 'em fight." When I was in college, I got into a fight that was really more of an assault on me. It never occurred to me to report it. Back then, guys were expected to take care of themselves. Now, I'd worry about being arrested for hitting somebody *back*.

Member Class of 1989
Tue Nov 3 2009 06:28
I am amazed by the editorial staff's position that more assaults are occurring because the UNH police are too busy cracking down on underage student drinking. Fights between young males have happened since the beginning of time, and the size of a police force necessary to keep that from happening would probably send your tuition through the roof. I think what would be more appropriate is an open letter to our society asking what has happened to some of our young people that makes them think it's okay to beat another person to the point where hospitalization is required. These types of incidents occur all too frequently in our society, and they also occur far beyond the jurisdiction of the UNH Police Department.






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