GUEST COLUMN: Police Brutality to Enforce the Ban

On the morning of Friday, September 16 at approximately 9:15 a.m., we were walking from the High Rises on our way to Houston Hall when the reality of police brutality revealed itself within our Ivy Fortress. While ascending the Locust Walk Bridge, we noticed a police officer at the top stepping into path of a young man on a slow-moving bike. The young man stopped and the policeman lectured. The officer's insistence on driving home his point -- that riding bikes is not allowed on the Walk between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday -- struck us as unusual. In the past, bikers would get off with a short warning to walk their bikes. Today was the first day of strict enforcement of the Locust Walk bike ban, and things would be handled much more aggressively as we would soon see. We continued on our way and a couple of minutes later the young man who had been stopped on the bridge sped past us. We could see another officer at the intersection of 37th Street and Locust Walk, and anticipated the young man being stopped once again. But the biker was riding pretty fast and showed no sign of slowing down. Couldn't he see the officer? Didn't the officer yell "STOP!"? We don't know. We didn't hear the officer yell anything and we were not that far away. Just as the biker was about to pass him, the officer turned to his left, stepped toward the biker and with both hands knocked the young man from his bike. The young man flew to the ground, his long skid slowed only by the friction between his skin and the brick walk. The bike tumbled from beneath him, landing several feet away. We were shocked, speechless, and confused. Did this really just happen? On Locust Walk? Was that actually a University Policeman? While we were both aware of the magnitude of the incident, we felt helpless. We did however, get the officer's name and badge number and the names and numbers of both the victim and another witness. Without even helping the young man up, the officer questioned and lectured him. But the officer's message of safety became lost in his own disregard for the safety of the biker. Is the life of a student on bike less valuable than that of a student on foot while occupying the main artery of our campus? The whole incident leads us to wonder if Officer Newton was aware of the severity of head injuries associated with bike accidents. Was effectively enforcing the bike ban worth risking someone's life? This was at stake in Officer Newton's split second decision, as the biker was visibly not wearing a helmet. We support the bike ban. We also support the use of helmets when biking. This column is not about the bike ban or wearing a helmet. It is about the ways in which University Police Officers choose to enforce all of the rules and regulations of this University. If one officer has the authority to use such a reckless and illegal method to prevent a student from riding his bike, we fear how he or any other officer will take it upon himself to enforce other laws. Until the University responds to this incident with the same outrage we felt when first witnessing it, we will never feel safe on our campus again. Not only do we live in fear of those who seek to hurt us, but now we must be wary of those employed to protect us. The dismissal of Officer Newton from the University Police Department as well as heightened awareness among officers of both their responsibilities and restrictions is the only acceptable response the University can take to this incident. Officer Newton's behavior was nothing short of police brutality and should be treated as such. Jennifer Manion is a junior History major from Provincetown, Massachusetts. Colleen Mastony is a junior Women's Studies and Psychology major from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.

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