In the wake of five Boston University student arrests last month at a 26-28 Glenville Ave. party, students say the relationship between the Boston Police and university is unclear when it comes to sanctioning off-campus students.
Students that violate the Code of Responsibilities while off campus may still face sanctions from the university’s Office of Judicial Affairs, BU spokesman Colin Riley said.
“[Students] will be held accountable for their actions on and off campus,” he said.
Any conduct that violates the Code of Student Responsibilities will be reported to BU by the local police, Riley said. This conduct includes underage drinking, disturbing the peace and ignoring police instructions.
“If you’re walking down the street with an open container or a red cup of beer and you’re underage, you’re going to be referred to [BU] by the Boston Police,” he said.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Meghan Sennott, who lives off campus, said while she is grateful for the protection of the police, living off campus has its drawbacks.
“Safety-wise, you’d want them there,” she said. “But party-wise -but you can’t have one without the other.”
But, when problems arise off-campus involving BU students, both the police and university must take action, Captain William Evans of the Boston Police District 14 said.
“We know what the problem streets are,” he said. “We know the streets to keep a close watch on. Do we go looking for parties? No. A lot of times when we go down to a certain house it’s because the neighbors have called about it.”
Evans said sometimes a university official will ride with the patrols on Friday and Saturday nights. The official will take down involved students’ information.
In other situations, the patrolling officer will take down the student’s name and identification number before taking the student into custody.
“Students are taken back [to the station] where they are fingerprinted and photographed and put in a cell,” Evans said.
If they are brought in over the weekend, they are held on bail and the university is notified of the students violations the following Monday, he said.
Evans said some students, who are not arrested, will still be reported to the university so that school officials may take action.
“If we’re busy or if we run into a fresh kid who is just warned, we will notify the school,” he said. “We notify the school when we have a problem student.”
BU Community Affairs Director Joe Walsh is one of the university officials who rides along with local police. The Ride Along Program with the BPD has been in existence for 17 years, he said.
He said many of the students reported are freshmen during their first few months at the university.
“Typically it’s in September,” Walsh said. “It typically involves freshman.”
The university punishments can vary greatly depending on the violations, which can be anything from a loud party where noise can be heard from the sidewalk to procuring alcohol for minors, he said.
“Basically they can run the gambit from no finding up to expulsion from the university,” Walsh said. “The most common for a student with no record is differed suspension.”
A differed suspension, Walsh said, means that the student cannot get in trouble for the next year or they face more serious repercussions. An additional fine is typically associated with the differed suspension, he said.
BU Police Department Captain Robert Malloy said the BUPD doesn’t “really monitor students who live off campus.
“Incidents that happen off campus are dealt with by the local police,” he said. “Unless for some reason [the Boston Police Department] needs our help, we don’t particularly get involved.”
CAS freshman Greg Sabina said he understands why the university would take action in these situations.
“[It is] to keep the integrity of BU students,” he said.
Sabina said he thinks that the while the university should have jurisdiction over violations that occur in on-campus housing, he said he does not think that off-campus students should face the same punishment.
“Personally, I think if it is BU housing, they have some sort of say over what is going on,” he said. “People living in non-BU sanctioned apartments shouldn’t be punished for things off campus because the school shouldn’t know about it.
“I don’t think it’s morally right,” Sabina continued. “BU shouldn’t know what’s going on because it is off campus.”
According to Riley, most students should have nothing to worry about if they conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.
“The vast majority of students attend classes, make a positive contribution to the city and university, graduate and go on to their careers without [receiving sanctions],” he said. “We’re very proud of that.”