University Police have to work at all hours of the night patrolling areas on and off the campus. Their patience is often tested by rowdy people on the weekends and those who don’t understand police duties.
Patrolling the streets of College Park is a sort of sensory workout — an officer’s eyes, ears and nose constantly pick up information from the streets.
The perpetual chatter of the police radio fills the car with information — a traffic stop here, a noise complaint there — vital to the safety of the officers and the community. While driving, the officer scans the area, left to right and right to left again, quickly settling into a rhythm he or she must maintain for a 10-hour shift.
Officer Jonas Ellis, a nine-year veteran of University Police, said the ability to focus on multiple things at once makes life much easier as an officer.
“You’re constantly looking around,” said Ellis, a regular on the day shift. “Tunnel vision is a killer of police officers.”
He spends this particular Saturday covering the Terps football game and spending a few evening hours assigned to an area called Adam sector, which stretches around Cornerstone Grill and Loft and down College Avenue. At 7:19 p.m., the car’s radio dispatcher reads off an incident and Ellis shifts into gear, setting out for the university’s visitor center. Upon arrival, he finds the source of the call is a young woman crying next to a group of tailgaters, standing in mismatched shoes and struggling to remember where she’s been or what she’s doing.
Sophomore business major Ross Aroyo, one of the tailgaters, said he felt like he was witnessing out of a TV show. But in real life, the characters don’t have a script for how to react, and Aroyo said he felt it was best to call for help.
Emergency Medical Services arrive on the scene and determine the woman is fine. As her memory begins to clear, she is able to arrange a ride home, all the while consoled by Ellis. Her blackout, he finds, was likely triggered by a dangerous mixture of her medication and alcohol.
“It takes a little bit more patience,” Ellis said. “We give a bit more leeway with students than they would get in the real world.”
He continues his patrol, but at 9:55 p.m., his patience is tried again. Ellis spots the woman from the visitor center standing near 7-Eleven, insisting she can drive, though she is far from her vehicle in the parking lot of Comcast Center. After listening to a stream of hysterical arguments, she is fine and a ride is on the way, Ellis performs a field sobriety test and determines she cannot drive. A few minutes later, the woman’s ride arrives and she’s on her way.
But the area is still alive with confused activity, and Ellis is a beacon for those with questions. A man visiting from Belgium wants to know why he cannot pay his parking ticket on the spot. Ellis calmly explains he cannot personally accept the money and the ticket must be mailed in.
His shift is nearly over, but for some officers, these early evening hours are just the beginning of the workday.
“The fun stuff is at night,” said Officer Clayton Brown, who regularly patrols the late shifts. “It’s a different beast at night.”
There is a different feel after dark; the air is much more serious. The smells and sounds are different — alcohol, marijuana and fast food; boisterous students, loud music and cursing. Brown also drives faster than Ellis.
Officers on the night shift are used to dealing with a different crowd, Brown said, and many adapt by practicing a more tough-love approach, though with just as much patience as daytime officers.
Brown, a university alumnus, has worked with University Police for four years. He feels there is more freedom on the midnight shift and more opportunity to be proactive in protecting students and preventing crime.
“I like to do a lot of DUI enforcement; that’s my thing,” he said.
On this Saturday, Brown is assigned to David sector, which includes the academic buildings and the Route 1 corridor. The sectors allow officers to build a rapport with individuals in their communities, he said.
At 12:24 a.m., Brown responds to a locked-out individual at Martin Hall, a fairly common call. A few minutes later, he runs the license plates of a few cars to see what information turns up on his computer — no warrants or expired tags. Then, the Prince George’s County Police radio begins to buzz about a fight at Galaxy nightclub in Hyattsville.
Not every University Police officer chooses to listen to a second radio, but Brown keeps it to get a jump on things. Last time he responded to Galaxy nightclub, a suspect stabbed an officer, so Brown keeps his ears open for a call signaling trouble.
“That place is a breeding ground for crime,” Brown said.
Prince George’s County Police handle the situation at Galaxy, so Brown heads to Ellicott Hall for suspected marijuana, his most common call. Inside the dorm, the hallway reeks of marijuana and Brown bangs on the door to no avail. He takes note of the room number for future reference and heads back on patrol.
On Guilford Road, Brown stumbles across two cars suspiciously parked along the curb. He smells marijuana, parks and gets ready to search the cars, just as three other officers pull up to assist him. Brown’s search turns up synthetic marijuana, which he confiscates before sending the individuals on their way with a verbal warning.
The night ends with Brown spotting a suspicious vehicle by Mowatt Lane. The white Mercedes truck swerves and touches the center line three times before Brown initiates a traffic stop. The driver performs the field sobriety test and seems to have trouble balancing, and Brown tells the driver a preliminary breath test will ultimately determine his fate.
At 2:32 a.m., Brown’s supervisor returns with the breath test, the driver blows, fails and is placed under arrest. Brown takes the driver to the station for processing.
One officer’s night ends in the parking lot of 7-Eleven and the other’s with an arrest, both equally rewarding, they said.
“That’s why I love this job,” Ellis said. “There’s no such thing as a normal night.”
