Double Teaming

Flashing lights, sirens and handcuffs are not uncommon in University Heights, particularly on most weekend nights. They often signify the end of a night and the start of trouble for UB students.

But when students are caught breaking the law off of university grounds, they can still suffer UB repercussions.

According to Director of Public Safety John Grela, when a student gets in trouble with the Buffalo Police or any police department in Erie County, UB has the jurisdiction to not only become involved in the matter, but to hand down a sentence as well.

"If someone is selling drugs, selling liquor to minors or having large parties in small attics, they are putting the students of UB as well as the community in jeopardy," Grela said.

In addition, he said the right to such action is clearly stated in the university by-laws.

Grela said he has worked at establishing strong communication with the Buffalo Police Department and the Erie County Sheriff for the past several years to facilitate teamwork of this kind.

Non-UB affiliated officers are advised to be on the lookout for UB identification cards, and to notice if a person being arrested looks of college age. If he or she is identified as a UB student, university police are called to the scene, Grela said.

Buffalo Police also take part in the arrests of students, and some say they see their affiliation with UB police as a way to save lives and help keep the community safe.

James Giammaresi, chief of staff at the Buffalo Police Department, said when huge parties grow out of hand, cooperation between police forces is not only standard, but also necessary to ensure the well being of those involved.

"We have these huge parties, and if someone leaves one of these parties and finds themselves with alcohol poisoning or in an accident, it is our fault," said Giammaresi.

"We are trying to save lives," he said. "The university has been great, and we all need to help each other in the quest to prevent students as well as community members from becoming victims."

Yet many students don't share Giammaresi's positive opinion about Buffalo and campus police working together.

Some students said they feel it is a violation of their rights to have the university police contacted when a situation happens off-campus.

Anna Duzhanskaya, a freshman speech pathology major, was involved in an incident three weeks ago near North Campus in Amherst. According to Duzhanskaya, she was part of a group of students accompanying one male who planned to steal a road sign as a prank.

Amherst police showed up at the scene and they subsequently notified campus police.

"We didn't even steal the sign," Duzhanskaya said. "They didn't even let me explain. I was just with the kid."

Though no one was arrested, campus safety collected the personal information of everyone involved.

"Personally, I feel that it is absurd that over something minor, both the Buffalo police as well as the university police need to get involved," Duzhanskaya said.

"I feel as if it's a violation of my rights that I wasn't able to clear up what had happened before the school was contacted, which will result in the possibility of me having a record," she added.

Some students have discovered that even if town or city police doesn't charge them with a crime, UB still has the ability to do so or give them another sentence on top of what the non-campus police hand down.

Michael Bruckner, a senior finance major, was arrested by the Buffalo Police after throwing a house party last semester. Bruckner spent the night in jail along with two of his housemates. Afterwards, he was put on probation by the city of Buffalo, but a separate hearing in front of the Student-Wide Judiciary earned him community service hours once he was allowed to return to school.

"I was suspended from school until I met in front of the Student-Wide Judiciary where they then gave me community service hours, while the city of Buffalo gave me an ACD (Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal) probation of six months," he said.

Bruckner said he does not agree with different law enforcement bodies having the ability to take different courses of action for the same situation.

"I personally feel that being off campus, Buffalo police should be the only police involved," he said. "But if you read the school guidelines, as I did after being arrested, affiliation means that trouble is coming."