By now, most of you are familiar with the Hanover Police Department's recent efforts to obtain fingerprints from all the summer members of Theta Delta Chi fraternity in connection with the July 27 break-in and burglary of Thayer Dining Hall. Police Chief Nick Giaccone calls this investigative tactic "normal police procedure."
However, this line of investigation is wholly unjustified and patently discriminatory against Dartmouth students and Coed Fraternity Sorority organizations. Furthermore, it is only the latest manifestation of a new and disturbing pattern of behavior among the police.
First, let us examine the HPD's rational basis for fingerprinting Theta Delt. In my conversations with the police, they revealed three reasons for suspecting Theta Delt. First, the perpetrators ran west from Thayer Dining Hall in the direction of, but not into, Theta Delt. Second, they had a party that night. And third, Theta Delt, in the words of Seargent Frank Moran, is not the "most book-smart of all the fraternities."
Rational basis, indeed. Without a scintilla of evidence, without so much as a single specific fact supporting the suspicion of a brother of Theta Delt or a party guest (as opposed to anyone else within walking distance of Thayer), the HPD is fingerprinting the entire fraternity. The perpetrators were not seen running into Theta Delt, nor were they seen wearing Theta Delt jockwear. They are operating on a hunch &emdash; nothing more.
So, in short, on the basis of a hunch and in the name of stolen snacks everywhere, the HPD is giving 25 to 30 students an introduction to the criminal justice system that they neither want nor deserve. I would think the town could find better ways to waste its tax money.
This investigation is also discriminatory against Dartmouth students. The reason is simple. The HPD never has and never will attempt such a ridiculous and intrusive investigative action against 25 to 30 average residents of Hanover. Can you imagine the uproar if the police attempted to fingerprint all the white male residents of Rip Road? Yet, lately, the police have been quite courageous enough to carry out just such investigative actions against students. That brings me to my second point.
As bizarre as the Theta Delt case is, it is only the latest incident in an emerging pattern of behavior among the HPD. I like to call it "constitutional brinkmanship." The "new" HPD is more intimidating, has less respect for the rights of students, and in some cases, less regard for the law. In actions against students this summer, they have preyed on the fact that we, as students, lack what other town residents have. We lack access to resources like parents, lawyers or the Town Manager Cliff Vermilya, all of whom can exert pressure against such intrusive investigations. But more importantly, we lack knowledge of our own rights. And this summer the HPD has been none too happy to exploit this situation.
Back in July, a handful of students exiting a Sigma Delta sorority party were stopped and told to take breathalyzer tests. Did you know that you cannot be forced to take a breathalyzer under any circumstances? If you are driving and refuse to take the test you will automatically lose your license. But there are no consequences for refusing breathalyzers under other circumstances. Yet the HPD has done a fair job of convincing these student pedestrians that they should forfeit their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights and take a breathalyzer. Submission to these breathalyzer tests typically results in the student's arrest. This newspaper reported those arrested as charged with "underage drinking."
Did you know there is no statute in N.H. explicitly prohibiting the presence of alcohol in the bloodstream of a minor? Take the case of Dan Palumbo '96. After being prodded awake with a shovel by HPD, they smelled beer on his person and they told him to take a breathalyzer test. He did so, registering 0.04. The police then arrested Palumbo and charged him with New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated 179:10 - "Unlawful Possession." Presently, not one of the 117 words of this statute prohibits the presence of alcohol in the bloodstream of a minor. Nevertheless, the HPD and Hanover District Court have managed to interpret "possession by consumption" into the statute. So, Palumbo, having been arrested, paid a $150 fine for a pre-trial diversion process, when, in fact, he was probably, guilty of no crime at all.
And what should happen if you assert any of your rights? According to Chief Giaccone, the fact that I refused to be fingerprinted "raises obvious questions" as to my guilt or innocence. How ironic. The HPD officers are sworn to, among other things, uphold the Constitution. Towards the end of that document lies the Fourth Amendment which protects citizens from "unreasonable search and seizure." Merely by asserting my Constitutional right not to be fingerprinted, my innocence is being called into question We are living under a truly strange brand of law enforcement
Recently, the priorities of the Hanover Police have become seriously skewed. In its boundless zeal to enforce the law, it has trampled individual rights, and, in some cases, sidestepped even the law itself. We, not as students, but as residents of Hanover, have an obligation to stand up for our rights and put an end to this.
