Lafayette under investigation
Behind the scenes with Public Safety
Adriane Marcellus
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: News
For a body assigned to keep students safe, students sure hold Public Safety back. At least that is what Public Safety is saying.
According to Hugh W. Harris, director of public safety, a code of silence exists among students when crimes are being investigated, a result of students' fear of what will happen if they talk.
Often incidents under investigation are never solved because they do not move beyond the first step, talking about the incidents become inactive because students are reluctant to talk, Harris said.
"Students try to protect other students," he said.
This is often the case when sexual harassment occurs on campus. Students do not press charges because the incident is an acquaintance rape, not a stranger rape, and the victim does not want to ruin the perpetrator's college career by pressing charges.
James Meyer, assistant director of public safety, added that victims also do not tell their story because they do not want to evoke the emotions that go along with it.
In addition, some of the rapes that occur at the college are never reported by the student to begin with and are instead reported by the hospital who issued treatment for the student, as required by law, Meyer said.
The college has the right to investigate cases that are reported from the hospital because public safety is considered a law enforcement agency. From there, the student is contacted and can choose to talk or not and to press charges. If the student does not talk then no charges can be placed and the incident is only reported as a crime. If the student talks, he or she has an option to pursue internal or college disciplinary charges, pursue criminal charges charges that may result in jail time or pursue both.
When public safety interviews the victim they proceed with caution, for fear of what would happen if they are approached too abruptly. "We do as good of an interview as we can," Harris said "We interview multiple people." But, Meyer added, "We don't push them to where they feel uncomfortable or else the student won't come back [for our help in the future]," Meyer said.
According to Hugh W. Harris, director of public safety, a code of silence exists among students when crimes are being investigated, a result of students' fear of what will happen if they talk.
Often incidents under investigation are never solved because they do not move beyond the first step, talking about the incidents become inactive because students are reluctant to talk, Harris said.
"Students try to protect other students," he said.
This is often the case when sexual harassment occurs on campus. Students do not press charges because the incident is an acquaintance rape, not a stranger rape, and the victim does not want to ruin the perpetrator's college career by pressing charges.
James Meyer, assistant director of public safety, added that victims also do not tell their story because they do not want to evoke the emotions that go along with it.
In addition, some of the rapes that occur at the college are never reported by the student to begin with and are instead reported by the hospital who issued treatment for the student, as required by law, Meyer said.
The college has the right to investigate cases that are reported from the hospital because public safety is considered a law enforcement agency. From there, the student is contacted and can choose to talk or not and to press charges. If the student does not talk then no charges can be placed and the incident is only reported as a crime. If the student talks, he or she has an option to pursue internal or college disciplinary charges, pursue criminal charges charges that may result in jail time or pursue both.
When public safety interviews the victim they proceed with caution, for fear of what would happen if they are approached too abruptly. "We do as good of an interview as we can," Harris said "We interview multiple people." But, Meyer added, "We don't push them to where they feel uncomfortable or else the student won't come back [for our help in the future]," Meyer said.
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