The Crawfordsville Police Department has been helping keep Wabash College safe for many years. It has been a relationship that has matured and become stronger throughout the years, however, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been instances of conflict.
The College does not have it’s own law enforcement agency, so the College turns to the CPD to help with large events such as football and basketball games and also help with any issues that may arise that the school can not handle by itself.
Assistant Police Chief Hal Utterback described the CPD’s relationship with the College as very good. Utterback said he uses this relationship to come and talk to foreign students who may not know the police are people they can approach.
“Every year I go and talk to the foreign exchange students to let them know we are people they can talk to if they need something important or if they just need to ask for directions,” Utterback said. “We don’t want them to be apprehensive about approaching us because in some countries they wouldn’t approach an officer.”
One of the biggest issues the CPD has is with students not taking responsibility for their possessions. Uttterback said every year he hears of dozens of students who have their wallets, laptops, and other belongings stolen and when asked if their doors and windows were locked, they always say, “no.” Utterback said to be especially careful weekends when visitors are on campus. Utterback hopes a newer security system is installed on all the buildings, but is aware that might not solve all of the complications.
“I would love to see a card swipe system on the doors,” Utterback said, “but then you have somebody who will put a rock in the door for a buddy who is coming over because he doesn’t want to have to go to the door and open it when his friend gets there. Your security is only as good as the people who use it.”
Utterback did note that the College has one overwhelming problem that never seems to go away: underage drinking. Utterback said this is a nationwide problem and is not unique to Wabash. It is an issue that has been plaguing campuses for many years and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
“It seems that nationwide college kids believe the drinking laws don’t apply to them,” Utterback said, “but the last time I checked, no laws have been amended that say anyone in college is exempt from this law.”
There has been a collegiate discussion across the country to lower the drinking age to 18, and a while ago the CPD did a compliance where they tried to get a minor into establishments that serve alcohol. All but one of those establishments checked for IDs. Utterback said that compliance proved minors are still getting served alcohol. Furthermore, he said lowering the drinking age will allow 18 year olds to buy alcohol for 14, 15, and 16 year olds. This would only compound the problem because the CPD already knows numerous students over 21 are buying alcohol for these underage college kids.
“I also don’t buy that these kids are drinking because it’s against the law, otherwise there would be no point to have any laws because nobody would obey them,” Utterback said.
It’s also been shown that those who start drinking at a younger age are more likely to develop alcoholism and be more likely to try drugs later on in life.
“There are students that die every year from binge drinking, and I want these older students to take responsibility and stop those who are underage from drinking,” Utterback said. “Eighteen year olds are already bad enough at making decisions in their right mind, so imagine how bad it will be if they can drink on a daily basis. I believe if this drinking age is lowered to 18, you are opening up Pandora’s Box.”
Utterback wanted to let all students know that if they are impolite to an officer, they are only making things more complicated. If a student runs, which he said is “the worst thing you can do” because then ‘resisting arrest’ has just been added to a student’s record and that can prevent students from getting jobs down the line.
“All of this goes back to the Gentleman’s Rule,” Utterback said. “A gentleman never breaks the law.”