Boston University students living in Brookline who have complained they have been unfairly targeted by police met with representatives from the police department yesterday in what they called a good first step toward reconciling a problem they say is still far from over.
The Brookline Police Department has arrested 18 people -- most of which are BU students -- near Egmont and Thatcher streets on 23 charges since Sept. 1, The Daily Free Press reported last week.
College of Arts and Sciences senior and Egmont Street resident Jesse Kramer said Brookline Police Department Capt. John O'Leary contacted him to set up the meeting after Kramer wrote a letter to the Free Press encouraging students to attend a Brookline Town Council meeting scheduled for the same time.
Kramer said he thought it was a good idea to meet with police before taking students' grievances to the town council, but said it would take more than one meeting with the captain to change police policy.
"We decided the first step to helping was to talk to the police to hammer something out," Kramer said. "To say maybe this was a misunderstanding. A lot of parties with underage drinking is not what we're trying to advocate."
O'Leary said Brookline residents have launched many complaints against students living on Egmont and Thatcher.
Though police said they increased weekend and late-evening patrols after they received complaints about students from permanent residents, BU students have said the complaints have been over-exaggerated and the police have responded excessively.
Kramer said he has heard of students being reprimanded and even arrested for simply smoking a cigarette on their doorsteps or having cellphone conversations outside their apartments. O'Leary said he knew nothing about those incidents.
"I have a few friends on the street, and one night after studying with a friend pretty late, I walked one home," Kramer said. "We walked up to her door -- we were maybe there for two or three minutes, and a police officer rolled down the window, saying, 'Go inside or leave the area.'
"It's those type of encounters," he continued. "It's just become common practice for a police officer [in Brookline]."
O'Leary's disclosure that the Brookline Town Council held an August meeting in which permanent residents aired grievances about the student population without student representation upset Kramer.
"I think it's tragic they had meetings for policing rules of Brookline during summer when students can't voice concerns," he said.
"Noise travels and neighbors can hear everything," O'Leary told the Free Press. "When it gets to the point that students are disturbing their neighbors, that's when something has to be done."
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore and Egmont Street resident Jess Colton said though the meeting was "just preliminary," the step toward establishing better communication among the students, police and residents was necessary.
"Not a lot was established," Colton said. "But it's not good to have an antagonistic relationship. We don't want to fight them. We just want to know what's going on."
Colton said she does not usually hear loud noises on weekends or evenings when police and residents claim students are being disruptive, but said colder nights from an approaching winter will probably subdue any problems.
"I've never been bothered by noise, but that doesn't mean down the road someone isn't," she said.
"We're just trying to understand tactics of arresting students," said CAS junior and Student Union chairman Leo Gameng. "To understand what they did violate and how can we prevent this from happening again."
Gameng said police recommended students take safety rides alongside police so they can learn how police patrol the area.
An agreement was reached at the meeting that Brookline police will plan a meeting with residents and BU student representatives to further discuss student arrests and noise issues.
Assistant dean of students Daryl DeLuca, Union President Adil Yunis and BU Police Department Chief Thomas Robbins also attended the meeting.
"BU students are just as concerned with the quality of life as the residents of the area," Yunis said. "They shouldn't be viewed as students, but rather residents of the area."
Brookline councilor Jennifer Dopazo told the Free Press the council is considering utilizing Brookline's noise bylaw to give the police another tool to control noise violations.
"Right now, if a house is being too loud, the police just bang on the door or give them a warning," Dopazo said. "We want to see if there is something more effective that the police can do to stop the noise."
Be the first to comment on this article!