
Why SMU PD? WHY?
It was a nice night. I had neither homework nor tests to study for, so I decided to do the laundry, which I had neglected for quite some time. I gathered my mountain of clothing and smashed it down into my laundry bag and was on my way down to the laundry room. On the way out I had wedged my doorstop between the door and the frame (a real one, not the deadbolt) and didn’t bring my key since a) it takes a short period of time to load clothing into the washer and return and b) I had assumed that my door would still be open when I returned.
APPARENTLY I WAS WRONG.
In a span of 15 minutes an officer came by, knocked on the door and upon realization that I wasn’t there and my roommate was asleep, kicked the doorstop out and shut the door. I understand that this is part of “officer protocol” and school policy to “uphold the safety of the residents in the residence halls” and to ensure that none of our belongings get stolen, however, if I leave my door open I expect to be able to return to it in the same state. I’m not going to wake up my roommates (or my suitemates) just because a cop decided to shut my door.
Why am I complaining? Because I fail to see how an officer shutting my door makes me any safer than if it was closed to begin with. Obviously I had it open for a reason. I trust that my fellow residents wouldn’t allow some lunatic into the building who was looking for open doors in order to kill unsuspecting students. If I leave my door unlocked and my belongings are stolen, then that is my own damn fault, and in some cases with some of you, your parents can easily replace it (or buy two or three more as well just to appease you). Although police officers on campus do such a great job at catching drunken minors, guarding the boulevard and making us re-park for when our campus is being whored out to the masses (we pay $200 to park here and tuition — we should damn well be able to park on the lawn if we please) or being there at the right time to give us a parking ticket or those God-awful boots with the unnecessary amount of WARNING! stickers, they never seem to be around when you actually need them.
Another issue is when Giddy Up is not in service (which is a thankless job ñ students need to stop taking them for granted; they take time out of their night and fend off the elements to serve you) where are the SMU PD? No offense, but probably asleep in their cop car, excuse me, SUV, somewhere, patrolling 7-11 (do you really need to patrol that? don’t think so) or sitting comfortably in Patterson Hall watching their favorite TV show or soap. I can’t even count how many times I’ve called asking if Giddy Up was running because I didn’t want to walk across campus at night by myself and just received a quick no and a hang up. Thanks guys, thank you so much for ensuring my safety. It also seems as if there are more police actively patrolling during the day than at night. You would think officers would be more alert when there is less light out and things are more probable to happen (seriously, there are parts of campus where even the street lamps have given up).
Here’s to you SMU PD: I appreciate that you are doing your job at “ensuring resident hall safety” but there are other, more important things that need to be attended to. If I want to leave my door open, I will, and deal with the consequences later. Until then, you owe me five bucks.