Swimming in the Omicron Delta Kappa Fountain has been a tradition of mine since the first week of my freshman year. I’ve meet someone new every time I’ve taken a late-night weekend trip to refresh myself in the cool, clear waters of McKeldin Mall’s ODK fountain. It’s a fun, harmless and healthy way to relax and meet new people.
However, on the night of Sept. 2, while wading in the unusually warm water and conversing with a newfound group of friends from North Carolina, something new happened. The spots of light that suddenly danced across the surface of the dark water alerted us to the five police officers approaching from Regents Drive.
“Playtime’s over,” I heard one of them call out. I then listened as another made a didactic remark about how the water is seething with germs, and swimming in it would surely infect us. The five officers continued to make remarks as my friend and I reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the water and dried off. They even ordered us to pick up a piece of trash that was not ours and then condescendingly informed us of the $100 fine for littering if we were to drop the trash after picking it up. My friend and I shook our heads as we plodded away, dropping the alleged litter into a garbage bin as we passed.
After leaving the fountain, the only thing on my mind was this: With the recent string of crime in College Park — including the incident on Aug. 29, when five suspects attacked three students at a Shuttle-UM stop near Route 1 — would our law enforcement resources not be better spent patrolling other areas?
I understand and would even advocate for one or two officers patrolling the mall. But to have five police officers patrolling one of the safest places on the campus is an absolute mockery of any attempt to promote security in this city.
And then, as if to make my point, the next night four assailants attacked a lone student victim just two blocks from Route 1.
I don’t claim to know the difficulties that law enforcement entails, but if five officers have the time to enforce litter laws on the mall, then I know damn well that there ought to be resources available to ensure that three students waiting for a bus should have no reason to fear an attack.
The almost weekly crime reports have grown commonplace: A handful of suspects accost a handful of victims. With each crime report, we are told police are “conducting an investigation.” But these cookie-cutter responses are hardly reassuring. Surely a more intelligent approach would be preemptive action, rather than routine post-hoc investigation. And it would undoubtedly work wonders for security in this city. I don’t know if justice can be served or safety ensured in every instance, but we can at the very least demand a fighting chance.
Jeffrey Gunnarsson is a senior electrical engineering major. He can be reached at jgun at umd dot edu.
