LETTER: Brookline police 'unnecessary'

Regarding Mr. Busnach's letter ("Brookline residents ask for respect of law, community," Oct. 15, p. 7): Let me begin by saying I am a resident of Egmont Street and have witnessed and heard of a number of injustices committed toward students by Brookline police. While I understand Busnach's right as a citizen to live and sleep in peace, he must also take into consideration some important factors he must surely have noticed.

First, a large percentage of the time, not a single loud noise can be heard on Egmont Street, even in the wee hours of the morning. But at least one Brookline police officer is always sitting inside his completely dark car, as if waiting for trouble. I'm fairly certain he is not there in response to a complaint, because, unless my completely sober ears deceive me, there is no reason for complaint.

Secondly, this is a neighborhood fewer than two blocks from a major university campus. In moving into an apartment mere blocks from Boston University, surely Busnach must have considered the possibility of occasional nightly ruckus. If not, that was quite naive on his part.

I would agree with his statement that the police are "doing their jobs to enforce the law," if it wasn't for the fact that they often seem to sit and wait for problems and someone to reprimand. My anger is not that police come to assist residents when called upon, but that the police feel the need to bother individuals who are not making noise nor causing unrest. I hope we do not have Busnach to thank for this.

Recently, at about 2:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I walked outside my apartment to sit with a friend as he smoked a cigarette. We had been sitting on my steps for no more than two minutes when a Brookline policeman pulled up in his car and aggressively asked us to go inside, saying he had received noise complaints. There was no noise -- none at all -- not from us, and not from anywhere else on the street, for that matter. Additionally, I was on my own rented property. Please tell me: Since when is it illegal to sit outside on the steps of your home?

In short, I understand Busnach's family's right to sleep in peace, but the actions the police have taken to deal with this problem are unnecessary and excessive. Are there not more important issues for Brookline police to address than patrolling the streets of college apartments? If there are not, Busnach should consider himself lucky.

Rachel Kunkler

SAR '09