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Sunday, August 10, 2008

A SU Student Speaks Out About The Salisbury Police Department

Dear Joe,

First I'd like to thank you for spending so much time on Salisbury News. I
stumbled onto the site about 3 or 4 months ago and I read it regularly. The
Daily Times is on the same level as the school newspaper in terms of quality of
writing, reporting, and relevancy, and it costs money! So thank you for the
blog.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you a couple of anecdotes about the SPD.

In my freshman year of college my friend got busted for pot. He had, oh, I
don't know, 1.5 grams left from an 1/8 (3.5 grams) he had bought a week prior.
I know this for an absolute fact. But when it got to the station it weighed in
at just under 5 grams and he was charged with intent to distribute. The SPD
lied on the report so that they could charge him with a worse crime. It's not
like he had any baggies, or even a scale.

In my sophomore year another friend of mine was unfortunate enough to get a DUI.
The police officer that busted him was kind enough to drive him to the station
and back at around 100 miles per hour. Now this is hear-say but I do believe my
friend, and what happened next I witnessed in person. The officer dropped my
friend off on Dogwood Avenue, proceeded to speed through the parking lot to turn
around, and then PEELED OUT and sped away. This was actually a young MD State
Police Officer and not SPD but it is all symptomatic of the same condition.

In my junior year two friends of mine had their houses illegally broken into by
the SPD where numerous SU students were maced, pepper bombed, and otherwise
assaulted (and I mean literally beaten and bloodied). One of these cases was
actually mentioned on your blog (Salisbury University Students Reach Out).
Guys, we're college students, we don't have weapons and while we may want to
avoid arrest, we aren't going to try to resist arrest in the face of an officer,
much less a SWAT team.

Now, I was reading on your blog about the murders this summer and I couldn't
help but think where I was on July 28th. I know I went to a small birthday
party around that time which got busted for loud noise. I left about an hour
afterwards, but the cops that busted us (3 police in 3 cars) were STILL HANGING
AROUND OUTSIDE. And I couldn't help but think that the police find out about a
murder or a rape about once a week (www.salisburypd.com), so what are these
three officers hoping to accomplish? Are they hoping to bust YET MORE COLLEGE
STUDENTS?

I tried to look up the crime statistics for the years before the current police
chief was appointed, and surprise surprise, they aren't available. But I would
be willing to bet that there is a negative correlation between the ratio of
pot/alcohol busts and real crimes. In other words, as more college students are
getting busted for cannabis and alcohol, more real criminals are committing more
real crimes. It's PATHETIC. The S.P.D. is a clown show and the chief is an
absolute joke. The Berwyn heights incident and the somerset county incident you
wrote on are proof that the police are out of control from the top-down.

I can think of a lot of other examples but these are one's that I know, first
hand, to be true.

Also, have you checked out the S.P.D. website? http://www.salisburypd.com/index.html
I have designed numerous websites from the ground up, and I can tell you that
it's a terribly amateurish, poorly designed site. It doesn't even say who
designed it but I'm sure they got paid, overpaid, with tax money.

One more thing before I sign off, Joe. You have said over and over again that
we need new blood to take power in WiCo. And I agree, but look at the S.P.D.
for example. Who would want to join a militant-hair-cut-wearing,
gun-wielding-for-penis-compensation, beating-up-college-kids, dog-shooting,
clown show such as the SPD? I fear that if anyone with a good heart actually
joined the force, they would be alienated and castigated for trying to change
anything or for standing up to any of the officers with seniority. And that
probably is true in politics, too. To change anything I think a lot of firing
and rehiring would have to take place from the bottom up.

Thank you for reading, and I hope some of this has been food for thought.

- daunted college student

55 comments:

  1. While I can appreciate the point of this message, I can't help but think..... If the specific students mentioned weren't doing illegal things, they wouldn't have had to deal with the police in the first place. Maybe there are corrupt officers, but seriously--stop doing illegal shit and you wont have to worry about whether the officer arresting you is corrupt or not.

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  2. Seems to me that this student needs better quality friends (druggie, drunk, etc). Isn't it funny how this student doesn't see a problem and that all the SPD are picking on the poor college students. My advise - go to class and learn, not party, isn't that what mommy and daddy are paying for?

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  3. I can believe this in part. Police Officers themselves have destroyed the reputation along with the leadership. The leadership wants cases and convictions to make their numbers look good which forces Officers to doa lot of creative writing instead of just the facts using exact words stated to them. Not what they thought was said. This is somethng that happens and is allowed every day by the leadership. Another thing change has to come from the top because that is where your problem is.

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  4. So, here is what I gathered from this. You and your friends have been busted on numerous occasions for either Pot, alchohol, or noise, and you want people to sypathize with you. Carry your ass back across the bridge where you belong. I hope they bust your a$$ some more. People like you are the problem in this world, you think that you are special and shouldnt get in trouble for the things you do. Hell they should have charged your friend with possesion with the intent to disribute heroin or coke, maybe that would get through your thick heads that drugs are illegal.

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  5. arresting people for pot is just stupid and not cost effective for tax-payers, its a joke. plus college is supposed to be your wild years. drinking and driving, bust them. mess with the college kids for pot and noise while hookers walk the street in broad daylight, seems pretty un-prioritized to me. im gonna catch a buzz right now.

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  6. This is a resume of ignorance by one of our future leaders of society. Two words, Grow Up!!!

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  7. leest theres some proof that the man spends a little time in whiteys neighborhood insted of always being up in mine workiong my peoples over

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  8. Pot smoking, drunk driving, noisy parties, and cops are the ones with attitudes.

    You're durn right they have an attitude.

    This speaking out reminds me of the loose girl who found herself pregnant and lamented,

    " What will this do to my reputation?"

    The answer came : "confirm it."

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  9. sounds to me like you need to surround yourself with a better group of people. youth is not a free pass for ignorance, or entitlement.

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  10. well said nate, god, and to think you vote... scary

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  11. whiney ass punk. Grow up and get a life.

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  12. Dear Daunted,

    Let me start by saying that there may be a couple of "questionable" officers at the SPD as there are in ANY law enforcement agency. The administration, with the help of their officers, are responsible to work diligently to correct these problems in order to provide effective law enforcement to the communities they serve. If you think that isn't being done - vote the mayor or the sheriff out during the next election, or begin making calls to Pikesville in large numbers - depending on the agency you feel has a problem.

    You have, proudly or otherwise, grouped yourself together with college students who attend SU. A significant number of college students attending SU have infiltrated the neighborhoods surrounding the University and have managed to make life miserable for residents who work everyday trying to provide for their families. Yes - being awakened at 3:00 a.m. by bands of roving college students leaving parties, screaming and yelling, is disruptive to the good order of these communities. The good people who live in these communities have an absolute right to live in peace. They have a right to relief from people who choose to behave in a disorderly manner and the mechanism and vehicle by which order is restored and maintained in these circumstances is the rule of law enforced by law enforcement personnel. In what world could a reasonble person believe that it is OK to wander through neighborhoods, disturb the peace, damage the property of other residents, piss in their front yards, and generally convert otherwise peaceful communities into places from which residents feel no other choice but to sell their homes and leave?

    Tolerance of the poor behavior of college students is in no small part a reason the city of Salisbury is descending into the armpit of the Eastern Shore.

    I find it a wonderful testament to American resolve and the belief in our democracy that many people simply refuse to leave and rather have chosen to stand their ground by publicly demanding that their law enforcement agency do their jobs. The increase in public outcry is the reason for stepped up enforcement efforts with which you seem to have problems.

    Remember this. You are a guest here as are many of the people with whom you associate. While you are here, act like you understand that. Obey the laws like the law abiding residents, get your education, and move on. Leave it like you found it. Otherwise - go to jail.

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  13. Mommy and Daddy's money get you out of the mess you get into here and you want to complain about our asshole cops. Grow up and get a life stay away from the booze,drugs and loud parties and you won't have to face them. I agree with you we have a few cops that are real jerks, but if you are abiding by the law chances are you will never have a run in with them. Many years ago I had a run in with the law (D.W.I.)and at first I blamed the law like you have here but TRUTH is it was my own fault for being drunk enough to think I could drink and drive. The college students here could go much farther on their argument if they weren't so RUDE. It starts out with respect and if you go and relearn that these police officers would be much easier on you.

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  14. Go, Granddad!

    And Dear Daunted, please inform all your college buddies that YOU allowed yourselves to be duped by your landlords and voted for Gary Comegys instead of Tim Spies. So YOU undermined some positive change that could have come to Salisbury!

    And how did Comegys reward you? With a stiff penalty change in the noise ordinance right before you came back to school so he could buy some goodwill with the neighborhoods.

    You students need to wise up before the next election and support people who are good for EVERYONE, not just YOU! For all the "benefits" you bring to the area, the detriment has been greater. Stop thinking the world or this city as owing you a living, an education, a part-life or anything else.

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  15. I never understood the argument that because there are murders and rapes, the police should choose not to enforce anything else. I know SPD tends to get overzealous about College parties but you must admit that your activities have dont nothing but put a drain on the city and society in general. grow up loser.

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  16. While this young person has shared his law breaking activities, kids are still going to be kids, like it or not, it's a collage town.

    There are people in the great Hall's of Washington and other positions of authority across this nation that are facing charges of much more serious crimes.

    Now when it comes to violence and destruction of property like we had just a short time ago I sure have no tolerance for that. Mistakes are part of growing up, who here is absolutely perfect and always has been?

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  17. i em your worst nitemare rite? a brother who has the rite to vote and will. youall might as well face it we be sneekin up on whats ritefully ares

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  18. Hey Dude, man like where did you get the weed man? I like man want to get some from you liek man that is so cool to like get a college education and be high the whole time, dude that is rightous. Wow, you could like be president if you like man got a hummer and did some like draft dodging, I would say like you were idolizing BILL CLINTON!

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  19. if we eliminated everyone who ever smoked pot we'd have no presidents, senators and other politicians, judges, lawyers, policemen and firemen.

    you might have a point, that does sound like a perfect world

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  20. Many of my friends and I attended SU. We were never arrested and never committed offenses for which we could have been arrested. This is a time for getting an education so you can make a productive contribution to society. Whoever told you that this is your time to be wild and to break the law doesn't have much respect for your ability to discipline yourself. It sounds like it's easier to expect nothing from you than to demand some self-control.

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  21. wow the self-righteousness in these comments is impressive, but not a single good point has been made.

    In fact, the folly here is overwhelming. Let's start from the beginning.

    Stop putting the student-writer in the same category as the students in his stories, because you are already attacking his character and not his points. Which is not where you want to start, because I have just read the story twice and there is NOTHING about his character in the story. Calling someone "a friend" in a story is equal to saying "a person I know" or "someone I heard about".

    And besides, he neither condemns nor condones the actions of his fellow students, but the police in his stories, if the stories are true, are obviously in the wrong.

    Also, every commenter so far seems to think that the police have a right to treat criminals like scum. But, first of all, it is not illegal to have a party or to get drunk. And by that same token, it isn't illegal to get high if you use the right drugs. Second of all, criminals have almost every right that your average American does. And if the laws change, some of you will be criminals, and some of the so-called criminals will be the new patriots. Try to have an open-mind to this fact, will you?

    And the assumption that "mommy and daddy" are paying for everyone's college is really wrong and arrogant. Especially at a cheap school like SU where most students are taking loans and receiving financial aid. That assumption just shows how dumb and out of touch that commenter is. Besides the fact that it is totally irrelevant.

    Personally I think the stories are pretty outraging and I respect the honesty with which it was written, he easily could have lied to make the students seem like angels and the cops like demons, but he chose to stick to the facts.

    And there are the REAL facts:

    People are going to smoke pot, drink and drive, and party until 6 a.m. They are going to piss in your yard, wake you up in the middle of the night, scream, yell and do all sorts of crazy sh*t. That's just how people are and that's how people always have been. I could go on a HUGE rant about that fact. I mean come on, HAVENT YOU FIGURED THAT OUT YET? Look how crazy things are in the middle east, or in nazi germany. Do you really think everyone is just like you? (you probably are no saint yourself).

    In sum, the point is that every where you look the cops are out of control. Are you really going to defend them after all that you've seen and read about? I understand that you don't appreciate law-breaking college students but there is nothing you can do about that except rely on the police force. What you can change is how the police force conducts itself. I think if the SPD conducted itself with a little dignity (law keepers should be dignified in their own way), honor, and respect, I think you would see a change in the students attitudes. But when it is just so obviously corrupt, you are going to have impressionable young people (especially college and high-school age people) REACTING to that and REBELLING.

    Respect is a two way street. Disrespect is just as important. It's like Nietzsche said, you have to be prepared to repay the good as well as the bad, and maybe that's precisely what the young understand and the old have had beaten out of them. I just realized, the original writer signed "daunted", Well, he's obviously a senior now, getting older, and more daunted, so my theory seems to be being proved true. Hm.

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  22. Nate......

    You had better sneak back into the store and get "hooked on phonics".......brother.

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  23. but you'd have a lot fewer artists and theoretical scientists too. They say the double-helix was discovered while cricks and whats-his-name were on LSD.

    Also, the ancient priests thousands of years ago were all drug-taking ascetics. Yes, even you Christians.

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  24. The dumbest comments yet came from Grand Dad. Now this is a person who is really out of touch.

    He starts by saying that there MAY be some "questionable officers" in the SPD, then says that there ARE "questionable officers" in every agency. So which one is it? MAY there be or ARE there?

    Then he says that college students have "infiltrated" the neighborhoods around the campus. What kind of idiotic terminology is that? Where do you expect all the college students and young people to live? CALIFORNIA? Sheesh.

    Then he says that college students having fun are making life miserable for people by waking them up occasionally. Miserable, REALLY? Get real, old man. Get in touch. Ever heard of starvation, genocide, disease, drought, victimization or dehumanization? That's true misery. He says that people who live in Salisbury have an "absolute right to relief from people who choose to behave in a disorderly manner". NEWS FLASH OLD MAN. YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO RELIEF OR TO PEACE. But people DO have a right to behave disorderly. That's one freedom that America really does afford people. And you want to take it away so that you can live life in your old and complacent way. Maybe what you need is to be woken up every day at 3 am until you are broken out of your complacency and shaken up into action. If you really believe people have a right to live in peace then why don't you join the army and go fight for it. But you won't, because you won't even fight for your own peace. You are just a lazy, small and closed-minded, curmudgeon who wants respect because he is old but has done nothing to earn it.

    Then he goes on to talk about democracy. Man is this guy getting more out of touch by the second? This has nothing to do with democracy. If anything, democracy affords you the right to LEAVE, not to STAY. Stop trying to impede on everyone else's rights.

    And if you think this guy isn't self-righteous, arrogant, and out of touch (you know how most young people are stupid? Well most old people are, too, but it crystallizes into self-righteous arrogance and being out of touch), check out his last paragraph.

    "Remember this. You are a guest here as are many of the people with whom you associate. While you are here, act like you understand that. Obey the laws like the law abiding residents, get your education, and move on. Leave it like you found it. Otherwise - go to jail."

    Actually, a college student who lives and works in Salisbury is no more a guest than someone who has lived there 80 years. That's life, you can't own the land. It's funny that the same attitude you reflect is the one that killed all the Native Americans back then, but thinks everyone is a "guest" now. I'm sorry to blame you for what people did a long time ago, but you are blaming the original author for what others did, so at least admit we are both in the wrong. Oh, and "act like you understand that?" Watch that arrogant tone, because you might just find yourself under scrutiny.

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  25. LoL Grand Dad good one!

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  26. Well, it seems it must now be your senior year at SU...I personally am glad of that! Take your attitude back to where you came from. This is a perfect example of how this generation of young people assume they are entitled to do whatever they want whenever they want. Go get a job with your mama and daddy funded education and have kids who will hopefully have your same attitude and you will then begin to eat your words.

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  27. police aren't unlike anyone else. they have cook out's and party's, have a social time, throw some horse shoes, eat, drink a few beers and yes, drive home. I've been to some police parties myself

    i have no doubt that anyone overly indulged would have been sure to be provided a safe ride home. however under the influence is under the influence and laws are broken, the same laws that they swear to uphold. they are human too and i'm not taking a cheap shot a policemen, and all students shouldn't be talked down to here like they are a burden, are some? absolutely. this generalizing is a sprouting offshoot of prejudice and hate that only makes our city look more and more like rednecks and dill holes to these kids, what kind of respect do you expect? you won't get any looking down your nose at them

    he who casts a first stone is likely to get avalanched by boulders. i'm old enough to be many peoples daddy here so don't talk to me like i'm a student, i've lived here 40 years and more problems in this city comes from the transient population and lack of police staffing that i moved away from many years ago.

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  28. This pretty much sums up what majority of the students have been feeling for the last decade at SU. Now the drugs and the dui fall under the dont do stupid illegal shit category. The parties are another matter. Yes they get out of hand and need to be busted up by the cops but one or two will do the trick. I've heard as many as 5 respond to a party of 40 or so. Kinda excessive considering all the other crap that goes on in this town. And they love busting these things for the simple fact that they can scare the crap outta these kids and the kids wont do anything back. Fight the real crime.

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  29. Young college students think that they know it all. They will not, and can not understand until they are older, married with jobs, wives, and kids, and homes of their own. Then they will look back and say, "Damn! Did I do that?" and "Did I say that?" I don't think that you can make them understand reality until they have lived it for a while. Life is not about drugs, booze and loud music. Grow up, get an education, and learn to behave in society.

    farm boy

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  30. walk a mile in my shoes if you can fined enugh time to come down out your lilie white world of yours. leest you got the message while i be keepin it real

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  31. talking about somebody's parents is childish and immature, and you really expect people respect you or value your opinion?

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  32. But I would argue that police men ARE unlike others because these are all people who desire and choose to carry around a gun and a badge and deal with the criminals and scum of society day in and day out. So they all have that in common. And anyone who chooses to have that job needs to be watched and kept on a really, really tight leash.

    We're all human and make mistakes, that's true. But abusing power isn't an accident it's a decision. one major screw up and we should take away their badge and their gun. That's what I think.

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  33. Anon 2:48 PM

    Only because we raised them this way and didn't teach them different.

    "This is a perfect example of how this generation of young people assume they are entitled to do whatever they want whenever they want."

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  34. Come on Joe, is this really the level you want to stoop to printing this crap? I think the last paragraph sums it up, college punk that just wants to do some name calling at the police to vent and I take what he says with a grain of salt! By his (or I guess her)own admission, they hang out with pot smoking drunks who wish to avoid arrest! The weight difference in the pot (1 gram vs 5 grams) would not be enough to constitute a distribution charge. It would take several pounds of pot to be charged with intent to dist on the weight alone. its the facts of the case that would determine distribution (FYI passing a joint would constitute "distribution"). Enough with SPD bashing, your problem is with the chief, leave the officers alone.

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  35. "It would take several pounds of pot to be charged with intent to dist on the weight alone."

    That isn't true. Don't pretend to know the law and tell people things that aren't true. It's dangerous to people who might believe you.

    It probably takes more than 5 grams to get a conviction for intent to distribute on weight alone, but the intent to distribute charge regularly follows a CDS charge and in this case it's obvious that the police thought Intent to Distribute 1g of weed would look a little too ridiculous to the judge so they just put their thumb on the scale. Which is still abominable. The police force should not use people as a means to an end. People are the end, and the police force are the means!

    anon 4:47 - don't you want to avoid arrest, too? the author didn't say how, maybe he meant by not doing anything illegal, but the point is no one wants to get in trouble with the SPD.

    Boy I sure am glad the internet lets you remain anonymous because I'm confident if you ever got on the SPD's bad side they would "find" a good sized bag of coke under your seat.

    don't be naiive.

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  36. i found the last paragraph pretty insightful

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  37. Cruggly-I LIKE you!You are a trip/I would probably get a taser if I had loud college kids for neighbors and while they can be a huge nuisance,if they are in the house sucking on a bong they arent outside waking people up.I am more concerned with all the unchecked gang activity and the violent crime that is on the rise.I do not like them a whole helluva lot either but you can be sure it was not drunk and high SSU students who raped that delivery girl last week or committed any of the murders in Salisbury this year-nuff said!

    Nate-if are real you need to chill-you are like a very badly written "angry militant black man skit" from Saturday Night Live.Cant we all just get along?

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  38. Anon 4:36

    I beg to differ. YOU might have raised your children this way, but some of us raised our children to respect others. BTW...my daughter is a graduate of SU and could not wait to graduate due to going to school with students like the one who wrote that email...not caring about anything except themselves and what everyone else can do for them! So, get off this blog and raise your kids..obviously you are doing something wrong to recognize your shortcomings in raising your children.

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  39. LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO LIE AND USE EXCESSIVE FORCE NO MATTER WHAT YOU IGNORANT ASSWIPES!

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  40. my point was this some punk kid is conplainin about cops cause he smokes weed and gets drunk all good reasons to go down. i get pulled cause i got 24' rims on my ride and my windows tinted down. not to forget a number 1 male. do you get it?

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  41. Tried to keep quiet on this one but just can't help myself. Just a few points that I have to throw out there. Nobody will realize what police do and why they do it until they have walked in their shoes or done their job on a daily basis.

    First off, laws are laws. Smoking pot, underage drinking, and DUI, are crimes. Don't like it? Write your congressman, maybe they'll change them, until then it's a law and yes you can be arrested for breaking them. Marijuana is Marijuana, there is no minimum amount of marijuana that you have to possess to be arrested. You can be locked up for one seed if the Officer so desires. Where do you think that one seed came from? You think someone went out and bought one seed of marijuana and lost it on the floorboard of their car?? No, it came from a much bigger bag that they already smoked while driving down the road and endangering my life and yours. Newsflash: that wasn't the first bag that person bougt either, it was just the first that they got caught with. So when I hear people bitch and moan about how there buddy got locked up for 1 gram I could completely care less, they smoked weed, have more than likely smoked it many other times and didn't get caught, and now they have to face the consequences.

    Why do college students get locked up for 1 gram, because college students aren't like drug dealers and are worried about their police record. Therefore they can be enticed into selling out whoever they bought it from so that police can go after the bigger fish in exchange for dropping the charges on the kid that is worried about his future.

    Nate: first off you more than likely have 24" rims not 24' rims. Second, that guy standing on the dark street corner at 2 am with apparently no purpose, deals drugs. 100% of the time, no, but more than a fair share. People that drive cars with 24" rims and dark tint are 7 times out of 10 involved with illegal narcotics. Sucks for you that drug dealers and law breakers like the same style you do, thus is life, get over it. If you don't like it then try to find a style that isn't generally associated with illegal activity.

    Anon 5:24 i find it hilariously ironic that you end you write "anon 4:47 - don't you want to avoid arrest, too? the author didn't say how, maybe he meant by not doing anything illegal, but the point is no one wants to get in trouble with the SPD." but then end your post with "dont be naive". Sounds a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

    I'd say thats enough for now, maybe i'll get on later and write some more.

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  42. Okay seriously, this is ridiculous. There are a couple of comments on here that are infuriating really. When I first came to Salisbury as a student, I respected the people who already lived here by not breaking laws and throwing parties that would bother them. I was the one calling the cops when the students next door to me were being loud as crap all hours of the night and I had to get up for work or school (no Mommy and Daddy check book for me either--I paid my way myself).

    You guys are talking about respect - how the cops need to have respect and we need to have respect but FOR REAL: How is it respectful to sit here and say that the neighbors of these college students should just suck it up when parties get out of control, or drug busts happen in the street in front of their houses where their children sleep? That is just absurd!

    I have young children now and I've moved onto the real world and I can tell you, this spoiled attitude of college students pisses me off. I'll be the first to say that I may discriminate a little, but only when I catch the first whiff of that, "I am entitled to anything I want" attitude. YOU AREN'T ENTITLED TO A SINGLE THING AND YOU NEVER WILL BE! Grow up and join the rest of us in the real world, where we EARN our way through life and we live with respect for our neighbors in our communities.

    No one is saying that cops SHOULD use excessive force (well, except whichever commenter said that the cops should plant a bag of coke on students - that wasn't right). What we're saying is FOLLOW THE LAWS, RESPECT YOUR NEIGHBORS AND CITY and you wont have to worry about shit like this. At all! And you'll never feel like the town hates you or views you as an irritation because the town WONT hate you and you wont be irritating.

    This city feels this way for a reason. I've seen it from both perspectives and I have to tell you - there is absolutely NO excuse for a late night party that disrupts an entire neighborhood, and there is even less excuse for driving drunk. The residents of Salisbury are fed up with the disrespect they face from students every school year and it seems like every year it gets worse. What you view from them as disrespect is NOT disrespect, its irritation. That school was designed to enrich this community with students and faculty they could have pride in. How can the residents of Salisbury have pride in people who keep them up all hours of the night, engage in the use of illegal drugs and endanger their lives on the roads every single week?

    Don't come on here and complain about how bad people have it when those are the very people who are breaking the laws. They lose all credibility in my eyes the second they stick a bag of weed in their pocket or get behind the wheel drunk. Yeah victimless crimes suck, but they're still crimes. Period!

    As for a party being broken up by 5 police, they have no idea who is in the house they are breaking up. If there is any problem where violence breaks out (which is quite possible when alcohol is involved, right?), how will 2 officers calm a mob of 40 people? They are protecting themselves and (believe it or not) you when they should up in groups. I don't blame them for that one single bit.

    And by the way, the person who wrote the email said that they knew for a fact that the amount left over was (I believe) 1.5 grams. I can only imagine one scenario that would make this knowledge so evident to him: He was there smoking it. AND either he's a seasoned smoker, or they did have a scale. I'm not a smoker myself, and as a result, I could never tell you what 1.5 grams looks like. I bet a seasoned smoker could though. So for the person who said that "a friend" can be simply a person that they know, I call that bullshit.....Unless a mere acquaintance is worth doing an illegal drug with, facing the possibility of a permanent criminal record.

    Sorry for the rant. I came home to 52 emails in my inbox from Salisbury News comments! The comments on this one really pissed me off.

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  43. Angela, you should have seen the comments I rejected!

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  44. I put up a new Post talking aboput the foul language and the fact that ever since I put up the Post the other day about John Robinson, all of a sudden I've been getting all sorts of nasty comments on any and all Posts. I put up the Post and all of a sudden I get a comment saying, F/U COC%SUCKER, (spelled out, of course). Do you think I pissed someone off, or what? ROTFLMAO. That guy is so easy to peg.

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  45. Can't please 'em all I suppose! lol..... What amuses me most is that people think they can respond to something with profanity-ridden insult tantrums and think that they somehow come across as credible. I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything because I certainly can drop the F bomb like a sailor....but if I'm going to write something that I want to be taken seriously, I'm not going to write FU C sucker. LMAO At least the students who have commented on this post have written eloquently without (for the most part) insulting people. I have to give them that much!

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  46. JR is all upset because he can't figure out how I know it's him doing it on all the different Posts all the time. Technology has come a long way JR.

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  47. Then Joe, you're admittedly a liar. You just said a few days ago that you don't even know who the anonymous posters are, now you're claiming some great technology to find out? Give me a break. You're a douchebag and I hope you and your family contract AIDS.

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  48. Punk college kid!

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  49. LOL, Joe, I'm sure it shows you the IP address of all comments, right? So, sometimes, it is easy to tell when it's the same person posting.

    Anyway, I think a lot of people missed the point of the eMail. It doesn't seem like it was to complain about being busted. I will try to sum up the 3 points as I see them.

    1) Police charged student for a crime he didn't commit (having 1 gram is a different crime than having 5). How would you like it if you got pulled over for doing 70 in a 55 and the ticket they gave you said 100 in a 55? That's the issue here.

    2) The cop that just charged the student for DUI not only was breaking the law by speeding but then peeled out to show off. It is a bad example and can be expected to produce backlash.

    3) It seems like the 3 officers were simply hanging out, shooting the sh*t, and using the "noisy party" as an excuse to be there.

    These were the points of the eMail. I wish the author had left out the details so that we would have less to criticize and more to discuss. Perhaps we can talk about these points now?

    Also, I thought that the author's last paragraph about the crummy environment it must be inside of the SPD, and how intimidating it would be to try to change things from the inside out, was rather insightful.

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  50. I can't help but think a stick of incense, a set of headphones and a splash of common sense on the front end here might have made this a non-issue....young people these days-a couple months back in OC didn't a drunk June Bug teenager attack a police cruiser (with a bag in his pocket)...Geez'

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  51. Grand Dad is an old crumudgeon? I don't care what anyone says, that right there is funny. LOL

    PS College Student @2:22 Grand Dad has served his country in the Armed Forces. Now what?

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  52. Marijuana, disorderly conduct, and DUI are all crimes set forth by the Maryland State Legislative and with drugs, the federal government. The legislative is an extention of the people. There is no other reasoning. Police officers are enforcing laws that were put into effect by either federal, state or local laws. Therefore, if it wasn't illegal by legislative decree then police wouldn't enforce it. If you don't like the laws, write your elective officials. Until then it is your responsiblity to stay within the laws mandated by our elective body to be a good citizen. If not, you get arrested by the police.

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  53. Typical liberal college student who thinks we should let them flaunt the laws of this town and do as they please. Their rich mommies and daddy's spoiled them all of their lives and they expect it to continue. Not here no way!

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  54. Alright lets discuss!!

    "1) Police charged student for a crime he didn't commit (having 1 gram is a different crime than having 5). How would you like it if you got pulled over for doing 70 in a 55 and the ticket they gave you said 100 in a 55? That's the issue here."

    I highly doubt he had one gram and was charged with 5...reason being the drugs get sealed in a baggie, saying 5 grams, then it goes to the state police lab...and they also measure it. Wouldn't they question (MSP lab, attorneys and judges)why the bag was marked at 5 grams yet when weighed or even upon presenting the evidence in court it was 1 gram or less? So this kid is way off!

    "2) The cop that just charged the student for DUI not only was breaking the law by speeding but then peeled out to show off. It is a bad example and can be expected to produce backlash."

    Maybe he peeled out, the kid may not be full of it...do we know this officer was not on his/her way to a call?

    "3) It seems like the 3 officers were simply hanging out, shooting the sh*t, and using the "noisy party" as an excuse to be there."

    Hanging out? Regardless how many officers are against a noise ordinance, they have a job to do, and thats uphold the law, and if they didn't the tax paying citizens who live in the area all year round will be complaining, so its a no win situation.

    Wake up...in every instance this kid has had a "run in" with "unruly" police officers he or someone close to him has been breaking the law. One last thing, he states they are "just college kids, and don't carry weapons" hmmm, tell that to the people who had 2x4s through their windows, or the kids who are stabbed, shot, raped everyday on college campuses across the nation, by college kids!!

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