By
the Wildcat Opinions Board
Streets around campus always have a much stronger police presence than the city as a whole. The most harrowing moments of a drive across town is the homestretch down any UA-area thoroughfare. At some hours, the police-to-civilian ratio approaches one.
However, there is nothing wrong with this. After all, UAPD exists for a reason.
A focus on the campus area isn't due to any sort discrimination; police don't hate students. It just happens to be the case that the people living on or around campus are far more likely to commit crimes. Thus, the public in these areas needs greater police protection to keep the streets safe.
Friday night was one of the biggest nights for parties in the campus area. Not only was it a Friday - a sure sign that something is going to be happening - but it was the beginning of a three-day weekend, as well as Bid Night for all UA fraternities. Sadly, not everyone has learned the lesson that friends don't let friends drive drunk. Thus, a greater number of parties leads to a greater number of unsafe drivers on the streets.
Students know when parties are going to happen - but the police do as well. In anticipation, they schedule any number of programs to keep the streets safe on these nights. The Pima County Sherriff's Department and the Tucson Police Department roll out the Safe Streets program. The UAPD, on any night when fraternities are partying, has the party patrol task force. In addition, all of these organizations work together on the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force. Over the course of the weekend, all of these task forces were present at one point or another.
We may not like this sort of police presence, but it is something we should be thankful for. If the police presence is effective, and is not too intrusive, it should be borne as one of the price that we need to pay for civilization and the rule of law.
Since the inception of the various programs, the number of DUIs has been down every year. In this case, the police even have the right view of things. As far as they're concerned, the most important aspect of the Safe Streets/ Party Patrol / DUI Task Force is that it deters drunk drivers. It doesn't matter to them if drunk driving is down because people are getting more responsible, or if drunk driving is down because people know the police are waiting outside to pounce on anyone who tries to get behind the wheel after drinking.
It is certainly possible for the police presence to become oppressive: to begin pulling motorists over for no reason or to follow random drivers around, waiting for the slightest infraction. These things do happen, and they are unfortunate. But if that is the price for protection from impaired drivers, we should suck it up and drive on.
