Election season nonsense

Normally, I don't think IUSA elections are worth any attention, but an issue has been brought up that demands a rebuttal.\nThe IU Police Department has been accused of abusing its authority and treating students unfairly by the Vote for Pedro, Kirkwood and former What about Bobby? tickets. Given the target police departments are for politicians, this isn't surprising. \nIn the Feb. 15 Jordan River Forum of the Indiana Daily Student, Vote for Pedro said they're " ... going to immediately publicize police policy regarding probable cause and public intoxication, then we're going to define objective standards for busting parties and stopping walkers."\nKirkwood candidates said "Students shouldn't leave college with a criminal record just because they wanted to have a beer."\nWhat about Bobby? claimed to be bringing rapper Mos Def to campus. According to the ticket's letter in the Jordan River Forum, Mos Def was "incensed by IUPD's treatment of students." One of its main goals was "ending the police state in Bloomington by limiting the jurisdiction of the IUPD."\nI have news for the IUSA tickets and everyone who makes a sport out of trashing our police: IUPD is a professional law enforcement agency that does an excellent job of enforcing the law on an often hostile campus.\nFirst, you should be aware that IUPD is an actual police department, not "campus security." Indiana Code grants the department the same authority that all other police agencies have. This means that if you get arrested, they're not calling mommy and daddy or the dean. You're going to the same jail everyone else does.\nSecond, IU police officers have an obligation to enforce the law. This means when you are caught doing something you shouldn't do or possessing something you shouldn't possess, you're going to jail. You might think it's unfair that a public intoxication statute exists or that students should have the right to smoke weed, but the law doesn't read that way. Berating the police department for doing its job is a good way to get a free ride in a police car, but it is certainly not an acceptable expression of discontent.\nThird, IU police officers deserve the authority they have. Every summer, right here on campus, cadets go through a state accredited police academy. Training includes emergency vehicle operations, physical fitness, firearms training, First Aid and physical defense tactics. This sounds easy enough, but would you want to get up at 6 a.m., five days a week for 14 weeks? The efforts police cadets make in the academy should earn them respect, not criticism.\nI'd love to see IUPD's know-it-all critics get up that early in the morning and run three to five miles under the command of a tough-as-nails ex-Marine. Maybe then they'd see how difficult police training actually is and why police officers deserve the authority they're given.\nAs far as the IUSA elections go, it's not surprising that no specific allegations have been made regarding misconduct. After all, specific allegations require specific evidence.\nEven specific solutions have been lacking. Former What about Bobby? ticket offered nothing in the way of solutions to the perceived problem of police misconduct other than a famous rapper who might have an axe to grind against police in general.\nIt is not an uncommon thing for self-serving politicians to attack local police in an election season.\nBy focusing on this issue rather than issues they have authority over, IUSA tickets are undermining the legitimacy of student government. They would have you believe that the law can be broken without real consequences and in reality that is not the case.\nIf the point of college is to prepare you for real life, this is one lesson that is better learned sooner rather than later.