A recent BU Today article announces a new “Arrest-First” strategy to further enforce the Boston University Police Department’s policing of alcohol-related violations in the Gardner, Ashford, and Pratt Street (GAP) region. According to the article, “Boston police operating in the BU area will make arrest the ‘preferred response’ to drinking law violations.” While the article supports the policy in terms its effective efforts to decrease hospital transports, there are many more questions raised in terms of how the BUPD’s strategy will affect the student body.
The first problem that arises in constructing such a policy is the automatic criminalization of students. I would hope that students attending Boston University, and attending off-campus parties, are not doing so in order to go to jail. It is my understanding that college students are in college to receive a degree and eventually get a job in their field of interest. Criminalizing students for underage drinking or noise violations will not result in complete seizure of the drinking culture on campus.
Also, by making this policy a priority, the police are dismissing the idea that criminal activity in and outside of the party-scene in the GAP region still occurs. Enforcing the Arrest-First policy may fail to criminalize perpetrators of robbery, trespassing, or other violations of campus conduct. I personally believe that the criminal activity is worth equivalent attention, as it can also produce dangerous results.
Lastly, BUPD may be overlooking the idea that students are in need of medical attention or rehabilitative help for their drinking behaviors. The BU Today article addresses the effects of excessive drinking in a way that assumes drinking is to blame for things such as declining “academic performance” and promoting “sexual assaults”. This is not the case. Excessive drinking could be a result of tolerance to the drug; which is also a sign of alcoholism. This is often linked with mental health issues. Criminalizing students for their mental health or substance issues is not the solution.
Instead of criminalizing students for exploring the college drinking culture, failing to enforce areas in which criminal activity is abundant, or disregarding the idea that excessive drinking could be linked to mental health problems, BU should do the following:
- Await the results of the new AlcoholEdu for College program.
- Disperse BUPD officers in the event of another emergency or criminal activity in need of enforcement.
- Consider the effects of Drug and Alcohol Policies that do not align precisely with Massachusetts’s Good Samaritan Policy. Read more on campus policy here.