Do members of the Brandeis police force actually arrest students? Or do they simply write parking tickets all day? Why do they break up parties? And do they enjoy their jobs?These are the questions that were asked to members of the Brandeis Police Department. They had the right to remain silent, but they answered many of a Justice staff writer's questions, addressing such topics as parties, relations between students and police, the paths that led them to Brandeis and crimes such as the theft last year of a plasma television from the Shapiro Campus Center.

"It's not the car chases you see on TV," Sgt. Dana R. Kelley said. "Besides some occasional problems, it's pretty mundane."

Brandeis policemen do have all the powers of regular policemen, and they have arrested students here at Brandeis, though rarely. The full time force consists of 14 patrol officers, four sergeants, one lieutenant (who acts as assistant director) and Director of Public Safety, who in this context is the chief of police.

As with all policemen, the force at Brandeis has an obligation to respond to complaints and illegal activities. Though illegal incidents are occasional, Lt. Bette L. Reilly (one of two women in the department) keeps statistics on criminal activity here at Brandeis, as mandated by the Clery Act, a federal statute that requires colleges to keep statistics on certain crimes.

According to the Clery statistics, Brandeis police discovered 64 violations of commonwealth liquor laws and 67 drug-related violations in 2003. Among other schools of similar size nearby, Bentley College reported 445 liquor law violations and 98 drug violations last year, while the Berklee School of Music had 27 liquor law violations and 23 drug violations.

The statistics report that the liquor violations at Brandeis have declined in the past three years, from 97 in 2001 and 82 in 2002, while drug violations have increased, from 22 in 2001 and 47 in 2002.



The party life

Campus police-especially on a suburban campus like Brandeis'-are perhaps best known by students through their responses to parties. At Brandeis, students are told to register their parties using forms available from Residence Life.

Callahan explained that police end parties when a complaint arises and if the party is not registered. If a party is authorized, but has grown out of control, the police will usually ask students to keep the noise down.

However, if the party is unauthorized, the police and the quad director may choose to end the f right off the bat.

Callahan said he doesn't like to use the term "break up" parties, because he doesn't feel that accurately represents the police department's goal. "It is a misconception that we try to stifle students' fun; that is not the case," Callahan said.

He explained that most incidents stem from noise complaints filed by those who live on campus. He added that in cases of screaming or possible danger, the police "have a responsibility to respond and address the concern."

"Most of the kids here at Brandeis were top 10 percent of their high school and plan to go to graduate school," Kelley said. "So they usually follow what we ask of them."

The sergeant added that nobody with professional aspirations wants to have a criminal record, so the officers handle most incidents without calling in outside law enforcement agencies.

"We don't arrest after one beer," Kelley said. "We give kids a break, but we want to keep them safe."



Security

In addition, the police handle all issues of campus security. "Any campus is a tough location to turn into a fortress," Callahan said. "You come to school for an open environment."

He said that especially since Sept. 11, 2001, the Brandeis police have continually reassessed and upped security strategies. The police utilized more closed-circuit televisions, plain-clothes officers and patrols by the Waltham Police Department.

During the 2002-2003 academic year, a series of bomb threats occurred at Brandeis that caused building evacuations. The police took preventative measures and interrogated some students, though no guilty party was ever identified. "We have to take [the threats] seriously and be proactive," Callahan said.

There were two well-publicized security breaches last year: a series of fires in North Quad residence halls and the stolen plasma television from the Shapiro Campus Center.

Kelley said the arsonists were never found. "We talked to people of interest," he said, "and it seemed to settle down."

The wall-mounted bracket that supported the television is still in the Massachusetts State Police's crime laboratory in Sudbury. The state police are analyzing fingerprints, and they will call the Brandeis force when they have made a determination. Kelley said he was upset with this unusually long processing time.





What it's like to be a Brandeis police officer

Members of the police department are on duty 24 hours a day. Some work all day, and some work mainly nights, but according to Callahan, all shifts are equally staffed. The standard schedule is a five-day, 40-hour work week. Callahan estimated that 95 percent of the officers' duties are service-maintaining the daily police log, pulling cars over for speeding or erratic behavior and stopping pedestrians for trespassing or illegal solicitation-while the remaining five percent is actual constabulary work.

"The typical day is to come to work, review all the paper work, logs and reports that have happened in the last 24 hours," Reilly said. "Then you have to work on different areas such as schedules, statistics and be available for anything that may present itself."

Officer Ronald P. Haley's day starts with a roll call, which is an information exchange of possible hazards in the area and upcoming events on campus. The patrol officers spend most of the day in their cruisers, answering radio calls (everything from cars that won't start to an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend that won't go away) and staying in the public view.

Kelley said it is a serious responsibility to act as guardians for the students on campus. Callahan agreed, mentioning that achieving positive interaction with the community is very difficult. "It's tough to maintain decorum, as some students are adversarial," he said, citing incidents when students have vandalized police cruisers. "But most students understand that it's a difficult job."

"Our job is to protect, not to watch," he noted. "We are not delving into your personal lives; we just observe in order to protect."

Haley added that the officers may seem like they are just watching from the side of the road, but this helps them understand people's regular routine. "We remember, and we know when something is out of the ordinary," he said. He added that the officers also check events or walk through buildings, just to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Haley mentioned that officers can help the community in the educational capacity as well. "[Being in the police is] like a study in sociology; we have seen all walks of life," he said. "People don't know what we do, and they lose a great resource." He has formed bonds and keeps in contact with former students who have moved on to the FBI and the "real world."



Becoming a part of the force

Callahan has been at Brandeis since 1978, and worked his way up to his position as director of Public Safety. He said this grants him "a real grasp of the community."

He noted new challenges in the job throughout the years, specifically those stemming from computer harassment and a nationwide rise of mental health issues on college campuses.

Reilly arrived at Brandeis in 1982 six months after graduating from college. She never intended to become a police officer; Reilly graduated with a criminal justice degree and decided to work for a few years to put away money for law school.

Instead, she decided to stay here. "It was an environment that I felt comfortable in and I ended up getting married and having children," she said.

The biggest challenge as a female officer "was to be accepted as an officer and to prove that I could hold my own," Reilly said. She recalled her first major confrontation, a fight in Usdan, where she said she proved that she would be there for her co-workers. "I became one of them," she said.

Kelley has been with the Brandeis department for 15 years, after eight years with the Boston Police Department's health and hospital unit, during which he worked with indigent individuals at methadone clinics and homeless shelters in the city. He described his previous job as "rough and tumble."

"I have stories that could just curl your hair...dead kids, suicides, pregnant ladies on methadone," Kelley said. He said he likes his current job much better.

Haley, who has been with Brandeis since 2000, was recently elected president of the Brandeis Police Association. His job is to represent the union of officers when it comes to bargaining and negotiation with the administration.

Acquiring a job with the Brandeis police force is not easy. When the department hires, Callahan said, candidates attend the campus police academy, which is sponsored by the Massachusetts State Police.

Kelley said the training has a boot-camp atmosphere with a drill instructor, running at the break of dawn and rigorous physical fitness standards. Upon completion of the academy, Brandeis officers also receive state recognition as police officers.

But the rewards of the hard work are well worth it, according to the officers interviewed. They all said that the most rewarding part of their job was being able to serve the community.

For Kelley, it is the simple affirmations that are meaningful. "That's why you do public service."

"Nobody goes into this job for the money," Haley said. "We enjoy what we do.