Leave the police alone: They’re just doing their job

In defence of the IV police state

Burglary, robbery, grand theft, sexual assault, and other violent crimes are things we know all too well in this little paradise that we call Isla Vista. We make up 7 per cent of the county’s population and at the same time are home to a quarter of all major crimes that occur in Santa Barbara County. Students have been on edge the last few weeks saying, “it seems like the crime notifications we get emailed seem to be getting more frequent as the year goes on.”

 

If this is the overwhelming feeling by residents of IV then why do we constantly complain about a strong police presence? Every weekend there is continuous slandering of the police force and every weekend they work until everyone is safe and sound sleeping on a torn up couch or in the ever-so-safe confines of the drunk tank. A lot of residents ask if we really need so many police officers around and the simple answer is, yes.

Around 23,000 people live in this beer-drenched, sun soaked, plot of land that measures a little over half a square mile. Not to mention the 10,000 to 20,000 corresponding addition of random high school “friends” that “really want to catch up”, and “happen to be in town for Deltopia.”

We have a strong foot patrol presence working hard to keep our community of professional partiers protected. It is a well-known fact that this beautiful school, which ranks 3rd among those in the UC system, knows how to throw one dayger bigger than Cal Poly sees in a year of effort.

However, we tend to forget about the ridiculous things that we put our police force through. If I had a quarter for every time I have heard “I totally got arrested for basically no reason last night” from a highly questionable hungover character, I’d probably be able to buy Freebirds nachos…at least before the price mysteriously grows astronomically at midnight. “Yeah, I know its fifteen dollars right now but I need this.”

Overall, do I agree with the police force writing tickets for things that can be just as easily taken care of with a warning? No.

The standards across the police force are something of an anomaly. Some are trying to help as much as they can to keep us safe and some just generally enjoy writing tickets while they attempt to pin anything they can on the Greek houses.

That being said, take a second to imagine the ever so lenient, post apocalyptic scenario that would engulf the confines of Isla Vista if the police were not as strict. Riots would stretch the length of “the Del Playa” with not one car mirror left intact and the street riddled with decimated, half lit couches each full of an equally undesired out of towner.

And at the end of the day are the laws that the police enforce really that hard to comply with? Absolutely not. Maybe don’t walk down the street with an open can of that sweet nectar we refer to as Busch light, find a toilet instead of a hedge, take one less shot of plastic vodka, don’t toss die underage on Halloween, and for the love of all things holy, stop standing on cliff side balconies. If we can keep these keys to success in mind perhaps we can create a healthy relationship with our defenders.

Their continuous efforts to reach out to feed us pizza and relate to our lifestyle are incomparable to any other force in the real world. Until we reach a clear middle ground, party hard, stay smart, who knows maybe you are one of the next Nobel prize winners we casually pump out.

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