Campus Safety Officer Abuses Power to Ticket

Watch Anne Benjamin '10 discuss her article above.

Parking at Trinity College has become absurd. Parking tickets have been showering down on students every day. The amount of tickets is one thing, but the actual fines (you can be charged for multiple expensive violations in one ticket) is another.

I would like to begin by sharing a story: this year, I moved off campus because Trinity had a housing crisis. The result? Every day, I drive two miles to school, a rare thing for a student here. "No problem," I thought. "Commuting will be a piece of cake." But I was wrong. Many people inquire about my experience living off-campus. In fact, when asked about living Downtown, the first question I receive is, "How is the commute?" "Fine," I reply, "a nice drive, about eight minutes long. Then I get onto campus." The fact is, my drive is stress-free until I get to school and realize that there is absolutely no place to park. Not in Ferris, not in any lot, not in any random space.

The other day, one Campus Safety officer gave me two tickets in a 10-minute span. The first ticket cost $25 (for "blocking," which I wasn't). For your information, $25 is more than the City of Boston charges for a parking ticket. I moved my car and parked in a spot I believed to be legal, or at least acceptable, and upon getting out of the car was threatened by the same officer, "I can tow your car right now!" After being threatened, I moved my car again to another place that I believed to be legal. The Campus Safety officer watched me move the car and walk purposely away from it. Since, after all, I was curious to see what he would do, I did a loop around Mather and came out five minutes later, just as the guard was walking with a piece of paper towards the car. "Excuse me! Please don't ticket me a second time, I'm right here - and there is no sign that says I cannot park here!" "Too bad, this is your ticket, I already wrote the ticket!" he retorted with a sneer. The multiple-charges ticket was for $120 - absurd. From a good vantage point, I watched this Campus Safety officer write tickets all morning. It almost seemed like he enjoyed it.

Not only did he give me attitude, this officer watched me move into an "illegal" spot, did not alert me to move, and ticketed me, following through with his ticket even though I technically caught him before he placed the ticket on my car. $175 dollars in 10 minutes, for a car that was not bothering anyone or blocking anything. For your information, these spots have all been taken away by shiny new roadblocks. I was informed that these spaces were going to be permanently blocked because of a fire hazard. People have been parking between Jones and Mather for years and years. The 10 to 15 spaces that were lost need to be replaced. On the upside, at least I don't have to damage my car anymore on those damn potholes.

Under no circumstances should a Trinity student be under more stress from receiving parking tickets than from academics. Every day the back of my head is filled with anxiety about finding a space in the morning, about my car being towed, and about having to pay Trinity another hundred dollars because they have done nothing to help out students who actually have to drive.

I did not relay this story because I want to complain about the parking, but would like to rally the student body troops and do something about it.

My first stop was Campus Safety, to discuss getting a special pass for my commute to school - no dice. From my talk with them, I found out that some people who lived in CCI were issued a "do not tow" pass, but still got ticketed. IDP students, I believe, are in the same situation. But, for the few students that actually commute to school, nothing. I am truly taken aback by how hard they are making it for a commuter - who is helping us out?

We notice that every day, the campus is scattered with more and more cars parked in silly and sillier places. There must be a reason for these exorbitant fees, but I can't seem to find a logical one. If there are spaces that really shouldn't be used, the area should be blocked off, like some areas have been recently. Maybe Trinity just wants to reach a little deeper into our pockets for some extra cash? The other day, an officer temporarily cleared a parking lot and pissed off a lot of people, but took in probably $600 in parking fines.

Good work! This ridiculousness needs to stop. I propose a change in policy. In my opinion, Trinity College should make at least some effort to help out those who have been nice enough to get out of its hair for a year. Perhaps they could give us a new pass, or a faculty pass. Perhaps parking tickets for off campus commuters should be rescinded.

Although I am clearly angry at Trinity College for not providing enough parking or any way to alleviate the daily stress of commuting, and I am seriously annoyed with the Campus Safety officers (one ticket-happy officer in particular), I do not believe that Trinity College and its staff are the only issue.

Every morning, herds of students drive across North Campus to their morning classes. Can't you walk? First things first, if you are worried about the environment, why use your car when you can walk - and it's a nice walk at that and you can appreciate the Gothic architecture while waking up to a fresh morning breeze. It's completely unfair for the students on North Campus to take away the necessary spaces for commuters. I beg you to think about the unnecessary inconvenience you are causing when you get in your car to drive less than a half-mile. Although many students live off-campus, very few are actually "off-campus" and this distinction needs to be addressed.