Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Brooklyn College Tries to Ban NYPD Officers from Campus
Just when I think I can’t be any more disgusted with college students’ hand-wringing, Brooklyn College is telling police officers that their presence on campus is upsetting for students:
Brooklyn College in New York City has directed police officers who need a bathroom break to use the broken-down facilities in a building on the far edge of campus. With a petition in the works to ban cops from the taxpayer-funded campus, the school’s director of public safety, Donald Wenz, told the student newspaper The Excelsior that he is pushing to keep law enforcement out of sight, the New York Post reported Sunday night.
Please note that the director of public safety made this statement.
To minimize student exposure to police presence, officers have been told that the college “prefers” they use bathroom facilities in the West End Building of the campus. A junior described the bathroom, which is located at the far end of the campus, in this way:
“The bathroom is horrendous,” Abe said. “You can only wash your hands in one of the sinks because the other two are broken.” The newspaper representative from the Post found “a broken toilet with a stained seat and an out of order sign taped to the door of the stall. The newspaper staff also found a lack of soap and paper towels.” Another student stated that students “. . . don’t feel comfortable around cops. They just don’t. It makes safe spaces feel not so safe.”
A student petition is also being circulated to support banning the police from the campus.
An NYPD sergeant/union chief made this suggestion: “Maybe it’s time these students, who fail to recognize the value of those protecting them, go take classes abroad—where they can have their bathrooms all to themselves,” he said.
The actions and statements by the college administrators and students are despicable. Let’s see if the petition banning the police from the campus is approved. When a crisis happens on campus, who do you think the administrators will call?
Published in Policing
I do think it would be appropriate for the police not to patrol the campus or otherwise enter the campus unless called. And if called, I think it would be appropriate for the operator to ask a lot of questions and otherwise tie up the caller for a long time to ascertain the exact nature of the matter before deciding to send an officer – or to tell the caller that they don’t really seem to have a law enforcement issue, and so take care of the matter themselves.
Sounds like something you would do to a kid brother or sister when you were six.
Seawriter
Sorry, FST. My husband graduated from UCI, and after all their nasty protests by the Muslim Student Association, he doesn’t want much to do with them. I don’t remember asking him what he thought of the Anteaters. He was a veteran student, and not a BC fan, so he probably thought it was all silly. But I’m sure you are a great Anteater!
I’m so tempted to agree with you, FST. Somehow, given how cops are too often set up by others, I suspect they would end up on the bad end of a situation. Sigh. I still like the idea . . .
Is anybody going to tell me if there is such a thing??? Just the thought is grossing me out.
The actual:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_slug
The UCSC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Santa_Cruz_Banana_Slugs
I’m so glad I asked:
Two banana slugs about to mate.
Or put on your kid brother/sister when you were six.
Seawriter
When I was a child in school I was told police were my friend, that they were there to protect me. School is now telling us students must be separated from the police.
College campuses are becoming the new segregated America, with students who feel unsafe retreating to safe places and their play doh, while sending those they feel threatened by to separate facilities. Seems like we’ve seen this before…
Wow. So true, Mim 526
This from Allen B. West’s website :
Student-body President Nissim Said said that the reason behind the petition and the anti-police sentiment stemmed from the NYPD’s previous special operation to send an officer undercover among Muslim students in search of Islamic terrorists.
That undercover officer helped federal agents arrest two Queens women in 2015 for stockpiled tanks of propane gas they planned to have used for an ISIS-inspired attack on New York City.
That explains everything. The college had terrorists setting up on the campus for an attack on the city, so now students want to ban cops from said campus. Sigh.
Great post, Susan! It should be demoted to the Main Feed asap!?
This is a great idea! They should post big yellow signs (and notices on the website) everywhere that say “RELAX! Police officers are not allowed on this campus.”
I was thinking @franzdrumlin‘s virtue signalling sign should also say “No guns here.”
And at the on-campus bank, there should be a sign that says “We [heart] your hoody and sunglasses—keep ’em on!” And locked doors have traumatizing implications in a town where intruders are stereotypically Of Color, so get rid of those. And (the big thing) advertise this, so all the Woke Parents will feel safe about sending their children to this cop-free, lock-free, microaggression-free urban campus.
I’m going through another mental round of “how can this be happening?” Don’t worry–it’s a rhetorical question. As always, the Left never thinks through the implications of its positions. I keep hoping that something happens to keep this from being approved. They should be ashamed.
I’m in favor of some places trying something stupid like this, to demonstrate to everyone else the stupidity, with the actual harm limited to a relatively few people. Unfortunately, New York City with Mayor DeBlasio is trying a take-away-the-police program on a city-wide basis with a large population that will be harmed.
What you’re saying FST makes sense. Except the Left never learns from its mistakes. They just keep making the same ones over and over, thinking that they’ll do it better the next time. And as you say, people will be hurt.
Wasn’t there an Oscar-nominated movie last year in which one of the key points of discrimination was black women having to use an inconveniently remote bathroom at their place of employment? Blue is the new black.
That’s not as bad as NYU. When we were doing the junior year college tour, the night before we were to visit NYU and Columbia, my son looked up from his laptop in our hotel room and said, “Dad, can we cancel NYU and go to Columbia in the morning? Then we can leave for Boston right after Columbia and miss rush hour.” “Sure. Why?” “There’s no way I can go to a school whose sports teams are the Violets. It’s bad enough they don’t even have football, but Violets?”
He ended up playing football as a Warrior.
They voted him in. Seems like just desserts to me.
Yes, it was about the three brilliant black women working in the space program. Very good point, Dorrk__it’s hard to keep track of who is in and who is out.
Simple, tell the cops to stay off campus and see how that works out for the students.
Tim Cotton is a great guy. He was one of the officers I “rode along” with, back in the day when I was a seminary student making up my own “Law Enforcement Chaplain” training. He was a peach then, and he is a peach still.
Sorry—should’ve mentioned that (sgt) Tim Cotton is the Bangor P.D. officer who started the website and “discovered” the Duck of Justice.
If I were that little girl in the accompanying pic, would I be afraid? Beautiful photo. Alarmingly addle-brained students.
What boggles the mind is the fact that university administrations allow their students to bully them so. When I was in college (a classic start to a Grumpy Old Man rant) – had the students gone to the administration and demanded anything the response would have been, “Go back to class.”
If I were Police Commissioner I would immediate flood the zone with every available officer not otherwise occupied.
Pardon the supposed humor, save this likely demonstrates the current campus mental illness. Just call your imaginary friends. Yuppers…
Well, here in Minnesota we’re surrounded by vicious Hawkeyes, Bisons, Badgers, and Wolverines. But not to worry. We have the really scary …. Gopher. Who the heck thought that one up?