As a general rule of thumb, the safer and more ‘under control’ something is, the less fun we’re having; with cruel and unusual consistency, the better the symptoms of nighttime euphoria ‘mdash; overcrowding, nakedness, toxic intake, really really loud music ‘mdash; the happier the coppers are to whip out their handcuffs (nonkinky variety) and crush all that sweet mischief in the good name of public safety.
But until we’re ready and willing to topple the system and battle cross-campus anarchy ourselves, we’re going to have to meet badged peacekeepers halfway, with the understanding that officers have been dutifully trained to do everything within their power to prevent potentially dangerous (and therefore awesome) situations from unfurling at the first ray of the party light.
It does seem only rational, considering the intense party-light factor at most student-org events, that the UCSD Police Department would think to bookmark the Triton Activities Planner on their Web browsers, seeing as it’s essentially a foolproof map to all the rowdiest nights of the year ‘mdash; many of which occur at least annually, if not more often, and are almost always publicized months in advance.
So far this quarter, two student organizations in particular have been dealt the same iron security fist that grips the newly clipped Sun God: Campus police officers cracked down somewhat unexpectedly on both the DJ/Vinylphiles Club and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Alliance at UCSD’s long-standing on-campus dances. The DVC almost saw their annual Let’s Bounce event snipped out of its Jan. 10 slot on the UCSD Events Calendar when, five days before the event, the Police Department recommended to university officials that the event be cancelled or heavily modified based on last year’s Let’s Bounce police report.
‘The Police Department was unaware of the event through the planning process,’ Police Chief Orville King said in an e-mail. ‘Once aware of the event it became clear that a plan to ensure the safety of those attending needed to be in place.’
After a series of last-minute meetings that DVC President Adam Timmerberg claimed he was not permitted to attend ‘mdash; ‘I was not allowed to
argue any points,’ he said ‘mdash; administrators decided to allow the event under a set of compromises: that the 3 a.m. end time be changed to 1 a.m., that each UCSD student be allowed only one guest (as opposed to a long-advertised ‘open to the public’ policy, which shut many disappointed out-of-towners out of Price Center that night) and that the club pay $2,500 for six extra officers, according to Timmerberg.
Police were probably right to worry ‘mdash; last year, according to the somewhat vague report, there were over five instances of drug distribution inside the dance ‘mdash; but such drastic changes to such a staple of student life could have easily been made before the very last second.
‘We were planning this for six months,’ said Timmerberg. ‘I started the first day of summer and checked with UCSD administrators several times before the event to make sure everything was on track.’
As the university understandably wouldn’t want to be held responsible for compromising anyone’s safety, it makes perfect sense to require the DVC to follow police recommendations; however, after having approved the plans half a year beforehand, it kind of invalidates the university’s word, and shines a flashlight into the embarrassing communication gap between departments.
And couldn’t the police report have been made public directly following last year’s Let’s Bounce, to both the club and the university, to use in best arranging security for this year’s event?
Similarly, according to LGBTQIA at UCSD President Danny Grebe, police officers that arrived uninvited to his organization’s Jan. 31 dance ‘mdash; held twice quarterly for the last 20 years ‘mdash; indicated they were unaware of the event. They proceeded to shut doors over an hour before the scheduled 1 a.m. end time, citing an out-of-control crowd outside Porter’s Pub and similar hazards inside, such as one female who had passed out in the bathroom.
According to the LGBTQIA at UCSD’s news forum on Facebook, ‘The police action to close the dance was not a consequence of a lack of planning or preparation on our part as an organization.’
Unfortunately, as we all must learn at some point (and usually the hard way), such law-enforcement hardballs are something to be expected and prepared for, along with the million balls any fun-killing administrative body can be counted on to drop in the impossible process of timely communication. If student orgs want their events to push the safety boundary as closely as possible ‘mdash; therefore maximizing the fun factor, which is technically their job as recipients of student activity fees through Associated Students ‘mdash; foresight of the hunger police will inevitably feel to call things off at the last minute, in the face of all this terrible awesomeness, becomes the duty of organizers.
Like Let’s Bounce, the LGBTQIA dance is historically off the hook ‘mdash; more so every quarter. Knowing this, and seeing as it’s useless to try and shake the idiots ruining everyone’s fun by trying to scale walls and deal Ecstasy in the bathroom, the event could find a larger venue or see about turning hopefuls away at the door once capacity is reached; and it’s safe to say that if police were contacted in the initial stages of planning, they would certainly feel a lot more sheepish about barging in all dramatic on the party.
Readers can contact Simone Wilson at [email protected].