SMU Police to “serve” and “protect”
“To serve and protect” has consistently been a long-standing flagship phrase for many police departments. For many departments this declaration has been upheld with the utmost professionalism and care…unfortunately one of the crew of men and women in blue at Patterson Hall did not get the memo.
At about 2:30 on Sunday morning, I was pulled over by a SMU police officer who informed me that I rolled through the stop sign in front of Boaz Hall as I headed to the Moody Parking Garage. At no time during the course of the evening did I have a drink, I was not out of control, and I was actually acting as a designated driver for some friends throughout the evening.
Despite my selfless sacrifice of sobriety, the officer sarcastically remarked, “I didn’t think they were called ‘roll signs’, I think they are called ‘stop signs.’” At first I was shocked. It hadn’t occurred to me that Jerry Seinfeld had decided to pursue a career as an SMU officer. Thinking back, it was a good thing I hadn’t been drinking because my sarcasm-meter would not have been able to pick up on the ultra-witty statement made by the officer.
The policeman took my info, gave me a citation, and then drove away, but not before he explained to me that a vehicle rolling a stop sign late at night could hurt a pedestrian, especially if he or she had been drinking. Understanding his logic, I took the citation and went to chill at a nearby house for awhile. Later, at about 3:30, I began to make the cross-campus journey to my residence hall. At the same intersection of my infraction, I observed a speeding vehicle and thought, “this drunk is going to roll the stop sign.” He did. Fortunately, I didn’t exercise my right of way as a pedestrian. The funny thing is that the driver wasn’t a drunken student; but the very same officer who so condescendingly told me to be careful. Dare I say “double standard?”
Now I enjoy a good thwomping from a Ford Explorer as much as the next guy. However, in all honesty it’s a good thing that I wasn’t drinking or I might have ended up in heaven signing “Another Brick in the Wall” with Dale Earnhardt, “Meet Joe Black,” or Oakley (my dog who wandered into the street and wound up wearing the grill of a Dodge Neon). Fortunately, my sober judgment made up for the officer’s lack thereof.
Not only do students have to worry about SMU PD issuing them an MIC or MIP, but now students must also worry about becoming a fender decoration for an SMU SUV. Fortunately though, should you be hit, I know that when you wake up in a hospital bed, there will be one SMU officer ready to make you laugh.
