Whitney Tucker, a first-year student, walked to her Ford F-150 and found that the SMU police department had made its mark. On her rear left wheel was a big yellow boot, and a warning sticker decorated the driver window.
Tucker called the police, fearing her truck might be towed. SMU PD towed it even though she contacted the department within the 24 hours requested on the ticket. Due to bad weather, Tucker was unable to get to Patterson Hall that day. Three days later when she paid the fine to have the boot removed, the police told her the truck had been towed on the same day as she received the ticket.
When Tucker went to pick up her truck, it started, but wouldn’t shift properly. After notifying SMU PD about the damage, they told her that they weren’t responsible for the damage.
Tucker called her father to inform him of the situation, who asked to speak with the officer. After a brief conversation, the SMU PD took interest in her problem. She still had to pay for another towing company to move her truck.
According to Tucker, the officer told her that he understood the problem but they were just trying to do their jobs.
“My car wasn’t even supposed to be towed. I have not received the six tickets required to earn the infamous boot,” Tucker said. “The SMU PD has nothing better to do with their time than write tickets.”
Many students feel the SMU PD enforces parking and does nothing else. Ironically, its mission statement mentions nothing about parking enforcement:
“To create a reasonably safe campus environment, to facilitate instruction, research and service through progressive policing tactics, crime prevention efforts and positive community interactions.”
Sgt. Mike Snellgrove said the SMU PD does more than enforce parking. Only one officer is responsible for enforcing the parking and his job title is “parking enforcement.”
“About 100 tickets are written each day. You do the math,” Snellgrove said. “SMU parking fees are in the bottom fourth of equivalent universities.”
Snellgrove said regular officers write tickets too, but they concentrate more on the students’ safety.
While three police officers are on the street at any given time, textbook and cell phone thefts still occur on a daily basis.
“We want to do the best we can, but we can’t be everywhere all the time,” Snellgrove said. Digital cameras have been installed in the Moody and Airline parking garages at entrances and exits to help prevent future car thefts, Snellgrove said.
“Students need to watch their personal belongings and not leave them unattended,” he said. “The best thing that could have happened did this morning. A student saw a car burglary in progress and called the SMU PD, who responded immediately, and the man was arrested.”
The last part of the mission statement suggests “positive community interactions,” but some students do not feel this reflects reality. Izzie Irwin, a Virginia-Snider resident, did not experience “positive community interactions” this past weekend, she said. When her room in the basement flooded, SMU PD responded.
“When the police came, we were moving big pieces of furniture out of the room. They [SMU PD] just stood there and did nothing. I don’t understand why they were there if they weren’t going to be of any assistance,” she said.
However, SMU PD has received positive feedback from some students. Recently when three female students were robbed at Blue Goose, the SMU PD was willing to help upon their arrival to campus.
“[SMU PD] were so nice,” Mika Helsley said. “They put a boot on the car so no one would steal it. I am very impressed with how kind they were.”
Although student feedback tends to be more negative than positive, the SMU PD said it is doing its best to “create a reasonably safe campus.” Through campus-wide talks with various groups and committees, the SMU PD is making students aware of crime prevention. Officers also reiterate the fact that students must watch out for themselves and each other.
