The van wasn’t rocking and the windows weren’t
steamed, but its location in an empty corner of the parking lot and
a haphazardly positioned blue sheet in a large side window alerted
UCPD Officer Dan Jermansen that there might be some people inside
the van who, as he called it, “needed some
privacy.”
Officer Tom Krueger quickly stopped the patrol car that had been
cruising through Parking Lot 11, and both he and Jermansen jumped
out, flashlights shining into the van. Jermansen’s suspicions
were right.
Jermansen, who has been the lead officer for the residence halls
for the past three and a half years, said it is not uncommon to
find students making out, having sex, or simply talking in parked
cars as an escape from their roommates in the residence halls.
Krueger said officers must check on these students as a safety
measure to make sure no one is being raped or that no other
criminal activity is happening.
Further down in Parking Lot 11, the officers spotted another car
with students inside. This time some of the windows were steamed up
and someone could be seen inside through a side window.
Driving by slowly and looking inside, Krueger discovered that it
was just a girl checking her split ends.
This sweep through Parking Lot 11 was one of the stops on
Jermansen and Krueger’s patrol Friday night. Over a two-hour
span, the officers made rounds through apartments surrounding
campus, provided backup for an officer who pulled over a car with
white instead of red taillights on Sunset Boulevard and arrested an
intoxicated man refusing to leave the UCLA Medical Center.
The officers were able to control most of the night’s
situations by talking with the suspects, but the intoxicated man
was handcuffed. No weapons were used.
University police officers have been under much scrutiny
regarding their weapon use after Officer Terrence Duren used a
Taser on Mostafa Tabatabainejad multiple times in Powell Library on
Nov. 14 after Tabatabainejad failed to produce his BruinCard during
a late-night security check and then did not leave as asked.
“We’re usually not that cool, but now we’re
popular,” Krueger, who has been with UCPD for three and a
half years, said regarding the increased attention after the Taser
incident.
He said there has been backlash from students since the incident
““ mainly students on campus and in the surrounding area. He
said a student was walking in the middle of the street and when
Krueger asked him to move, the student responded, “Why? You
going to Tase me?”
Krueger and Jermansen said they just “absorb”
comments like these and go on with their patrols.
“You have freedom of speech. You can say anything you want
to a police officer,” Krueger said.
Jermansen, who has been with UCPD for six and a half years
following four and a half years with the Los Angeles Police
Department, said the backlash from students has not changed the way
he does his job. He said the Taser is a “good deterrent
option.”
“It’s the best tool on our belt,” he said.
“The Taser gets compliance.”
But on this night, compliance came easily for the officers.
A group of girls dressed in party attire who had been walking
down Landfair Avenue were stopped and questioned after the officers
suspected some might have been carrying alcohol in red plastic
cups. The girls said they did not have any alcohol, and after
Krueger advised the girls to be careful and tell their friends the
same, the officers drove on.
Typically, high-profile arrests are not a major part of the
officers’ jobs as they patrol the campus.
Jermansen said he mostly deals with thefts as a result of people
not locking up their property. Coincidentally, a call about a Lexus
stolen in front of the Geffen Playhouse on Le Conte Avenue came in
over the radio as the officers were patrolling.
Jermansen said UCPD has always been a very proud department and
the controversy surrounding the Taser incident has unfairly damaged
the department’s image.
“Our reputation has definitely been hurt, and we think
unfairly. Our badge has been hurt for no reason,” he
said.