Call City Not Uni­ver­sity Police First

It’s about more than just stu­dent dis­tur­bances. Over the years there have been many rumors and mis­con­cep­tions regard­ing the dual roles of the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Police Depart­ment (MPD) and the George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­sity Police Depart­ment (UPD). Which group enforces Dis­trict Laws for either GWU’s “cam­pus” or for stu­dents liv­ing off-campus? Who, if anyone?

In the recent past I have been told, off the record, by MPD offi­cers that they were not per­mit­ted to deal with stu­dent mis­con­duct unless it was requested by the UPD. Adding fuel to this rumor fire a few years ago was for­mer DC City Coun­cil mem­ber Kathy Pat­ter­son, then Chair of the Council’s Com­mit­tee on the Judi­ciary. Under the rubric of “con­cur­rent juris­dic­tion” Pat­ter­son tried to make that process a mat­ter of law. This poten­tial leg­is­la­tion raised such a hue and cry through­out the City that the ill-advised pro­posal was with­drawn. Nonethe­less, while the leg­is­la­tion failed, rumors per­pet­u­ated that the flawed process was still in place.

Do these rumors per­sist? Yes, GWU has opened an office to deal with stu­dent mis­con­duct. And, yes, in repeated mail­ings and pub­lic appear­ances, sound­ing very rea­son­able and even help­ful, Uni­ver­sity rep­re­sen­ta­tives decry dis­rup­tive, dis­turb­ing and pos­si­bly ille­gal behav­ior. A closer look at GWU’s
actions and poli­cies regard­ing mis­con­duct (stu­dent and oth­er­wise) both on and off its cam­pus envi­rons reveals that, despite good inten­tions, they may actu­ally hin­der pub­lic safety.

Last week I had a phone con­ver­sa­tion with Lt. Phil Lan­ciano of the MPD. The good lieu­tenant is a gen­uine asset in our com­mu­nity, and he assured me that no pol­icy— overt or hidden—prevents MPD offi­cers from deal­ing with stu­dent mis­con­duct, either on or off the cam­pus. While GWU has estab­lished a “hot­line” and encour­aged non-student res­i­dents to call the Uni­ver­sity first, Lt. Lan­ciano, asks that reports are first made to the MPD. The MPD will then deter­mine if and how to involve the uni­ver­sity authorities.

The Octo­ber 2 edi­tion of the GW Hatchet ran an excel­lent edi­to­r­ial express­ing con­cern over GWU’s plans to extend UPD author­ity to off-campus res­i­dences. The edi­tor declared that stu­dents liv­ing off-campus must learn to live as adult and respon­si­ble mem­bers of the res­i­den­tial com­mu­nity, and “In the same vein, neigh­bor­hood asso­ci­a­tions and res­i­dents should be treat­ing stu­dents like any other res­i­dents and keep­ing UPD out of the picture.”

Law enforce­ment is cen­tral in achiev­ing this goal set out by the Hatchet edi­tor. The only way in which Dis­trict laws can be enforced is by the pro­fes­sional offi­cers of the MPD, respon­si­ble to Dis­trict res­i­dents and as part and par­cel of their job, offi­cers take an oath to enforce Dis­trict laws. Nei­ther is true of the UPD, much less the University’s pub­lic rela­tions office which is charged with respond­ing
to—and/or pla­cat­ing our residents.

I strongly urge that every­one heed Lt. Lanciano’s advice. Should FB/WE residents—STUDENTS
INCLUDED—experience or wit­ness mis­con­duct or, what seems to be a vio­la­tion of law by any­one, the phone should be used to dial 911, not the Uni­ver­sity. The name or badge num­ber of respond­ing offi­cers, date and time should be noted, as well as an account of any inci­dent specifics. Lt Lan­ciano will then have the tools to follow-up and he has promised to do so.

— Ron Cocome