MPD starts "Party Patrol"

[LizziebethHoya]

www.thehoya.com/news/100507/news4.cfm

And this is NOT the April Fool's edition of the Hoya.

Favorite quotes:

"Solberg said while patrolling the neighborhoods on foot, the officers will break up parties or gatherings that they can hear from the sidewalk. They may also arrest people out on the street who are being too noisy.
“I think when people see a lot of cops in their community, criminals are deterred,” Solberg said. “Foot-beat officers get noticed more than officers in cars.”

“We’ve got no sympathy for disturbing the peace,” Solberg said. “If you’re disrupting the peace in the community, you’re in violation.”

Criminals? Georgetown students are criminals?

[TBird41]

I feel like this is karma coming back to get all those current students who've taunted me and other graduates about not being in college anymore.

No, I'm not vindictive, or bitter....

[Boz]

This is the worst mis-use of the phrase "party patrol" in human history.

Party patrols are about cash prizes, and girls in fur bikinis, and dogs with sunglasses, and offers for credit cards that you can't afford, and free samples of truly abhorrent new varieties of beer. (Miller Chill? Really? Did the world need that?)

I've got an idea. How about increasing those foot patrols to deter the possibility of people actually, you know, getting shot which -- I'm pretty, sure even though I haven't been to one since I said goodbye to my twenties -- is not all that common an occurrance at Burleith parties.

I feel bad for students. We should probably blame this on George Bush.

[strummer8526]

What do you think the odds are we can get MPD to release the classified documents they have on this initiative?

[SFHoya99]

Awesome.

Disturbing the Peace versus Murder.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

strummer85 said:

What do you think the odds are we can get MPD to release the classified documents they have on this initiative?

FOIA is your friend.

[hoyaLS05]

boz1 said:

This is the worst mis-use of the phrase "party patrol" in human history.

Party patrols are about cash prizes, and girls in fur bikinis, and dogs with sunglasses, and offers for credit cards that you can't afford, and free samples of truly abhorrent new varieties of beer. (Miller Chill? Really? Did the world need that?)

I've got an idea. How about increasing those foot patrols to deter the possibility of people actually, you know, getting shot which -- I'm pretty, sure even though I haven't been to one since I said goodbye to my twenties -- is not all that common an occurrance at Burleith parties.

I feel bad for students. We should probably blame this on George Bush.

Commander Solberg has never been known for having a way with words.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400405.html

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

You know what's a recipe for a nasty incident? - lots of cops, drunk students, and cops given specific instructions to arrest people on the street and use noise as a pretext for other police activity.

[JimmyHoya]

Oh man, I can't wait for the flood of Facebook groups invites around Thanksgiving and the ensuing protest on the mall, demands for a meeting with Fenty, and the allying with Marion Barry. It's gonna be great.

[The Stig]

How many cops is the MPD going to use for these patrols? Does MPD honestly think that those cops have nothing better to do in DC?

[Coast2CoastHoya]

This makes me sick. I've been living in SE for the last 4 years and THAT'S a place we could use more foot patrols. I mean c'mon, I see drug deals, automobile crimes, attempted muggings, and hear gunshots on regular basis. What a waste of time, energy, and tax payer money. Amazing the power of rich, influential residents ....

Arresting students does not send the right message, it does not teach the right lesson, it does not solve the problem, and the costs will be greater than any perceived benefit. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

[strummer8526]

Word from friends on campus is that they're not cops walking around Georgetown. They're cops RIDING AROUND GEORGETOWN ON SEGWAYS! If that's not the biggest "Edited you" to the poor neighborhoods of DC, I don't know what is.

[kchoya]

strummer85 said:

Word from friends on campus is that they're not cops walking around Georgetown. They're cops RIDING AROUND GEORGETOWN ON SEGWAYS! If that's not the biggest "Edited you" to the poor neighborhoods of DC, I don't know what is.

In the parlance of Inspector Solberg, I guess one might say:

"This is not a racial thing to say that people on Segways are unusual in Southeast. This is a fact of life."

[joey0403p]

Just one more reason for the school to accept all oncampus parties regardless of age/registration/etc. Keep the students partying on campus and make nice with the neighbors and the cops.

Just a thought.

[CTHoya08]

"Cathy Lanier, Metropolitan Police Department chief, requested that each district have at least 16 officers walking per route after four people were shot and killed this weekend in the city."

Isn't that a pretty good reason NOT to stress noise violations?

[hoya4ever]

I think what they are trying to do here is similar to what NYC tried to do in the nineties. Get even the smallest stuff that can cause trouble because it can give off the idea that trouble is accepted and therefore will snowball. I don't know how you can compare vandalising trains to just being college students but I think it's the same principle they are running with.

For more information, try reading Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

[theexorcist]

hoya4ever said:

I think what they are trying to do here is similar to what NYC tried to do in the nineties. Get even the smallest stuff that can cause trouble because it can give off the idea that trouble is accepted and therefore will snowball. I don't know how you can compare vandalising trains to just being college students but I think it's the same principle they are running with.

For more information, try reading Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

The NYC approach busted people in high-crime areas for doing things that would normally be ignored (the broken window is most famous). Northwest is not a high-crime area.

Also, people in Georgetown aren't busted for jaywalking.

This is based on the complaints of Georgetown residents who feel that GU students don't respect them. Don't try to cloud it as anything else.

[Cambridge]

hoya4ever said:

I think what they are trying to do here is similar to what NYC tried to do in the nineties. Get even the smallest stuff that can cause trouble because it can give off the idea that trouble is accepted and therefore will snowball. I don't know how you can compare vandalising trains to just being college students but I think it's the same principle they are running with.

For more information, try reading Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Of course, if you read Freakanomics you'll find that there is little data to support the tactic. In fact, all the data suggests that crime was already decreasing at the same rate prior to Giuliani's election and the implementation of the "broken window" theory. The actual cause of the decrease in crime--the increased number of police officers hired under Dinkins and also Giuliani.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

theexorcist said:

hoya4ever said:

I think what they are trying to do here is similar to what NYC tried to do in the nineties. Get even the smallest stuff that can cause trouble because it can give off the idea that trouble is accepted and therefore will snowball. I don't know how you can compare vandalising trains to just being college students but I think it's the same principle they are running with.

For more information, try reading Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

The NYC approach busted people in high-crime areas for doing things that would normally be ignored (the broken window is most famous). Northwest is not a high-crime area.

Also, people in Georgetown aren't busted for jaywalking.

This is based on the complaints of Georgetown residents who feel that GU students don't respect them. Don't try to cloud it as anything else.

which makes it even more bull. I'd be much easier to swallow if that were what's happening. Instead it's cops wasting their time patroling Georgetown protecting entitled spolied adults from entitled spoiled kid's and their loud noises. Meanwhile people are getting killed elsewhere in the city and instead of being in the high crime areas the cops are making sure some old lady's petunia's don't get trampled.

[strummer8526]

theexorcist said:

hoya4ever said:

I think what they are trying to do here is similar to what NYC tried to do in the nineties. Get even the smallest stuff that can cause trouble because it can give off the idea that trouble is accepted and therefore will snowball. I don't know how you can compare vandalising trains to just being college students but I think it's the same principle they are running with.

For more information, try reading Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

The NYC approach busted people in high-crime areas for doing things that would normally be ignored (the broken window is most famous). Northwest is not a high-crime area.

Also, people in Georgetown aren't busted for jaywalking.

This is based on the complaints of Georgetown residents who feel that GU students don't respect them. Don't try to cloud it as anything else.

Totally agree. I somewhat buy into the Tipping Point argument in certain situations: dealing with the small can help change a general image and therefore the more widespread behavior. But the problem is that the bulk of violent crimes aren't happening anywhere near the Georgetown parties. Wanna fix some broken windows? Go clean up parks and building projects in the worst DC neighborhoods. Those are the "broken windows" that are impacting the way more significant DC criminals view their city and their lives.