"We always increase our patrols in the first-year dormitories at the beginning and the end of the year," said Carter. "Especially in James and Stearns, there is a lot of alcohol around."
According to Carter, the officer who was on duty was inside the Campus Police building when he heard a crack behind the building. "He saw three males near the steam plant and one of them had the spotlight from the cruiser," said Carter.
According to Carter, the students dropped the spotlight and the exterior light but the officer caught up with them and questioned them. As the officer was questioning them, the three students suddenly ran in different directions.
"The officer later discovered somebody had tied the front door closed, in an apparent attempt to keep us from exiting the building," said Carter. "They didn't realize there was a back door."
According to Carter, the boys said they were coming from a party at Davis Dormitory, but the officer had no way of confirming this information.
Campus police are investigating the matter but have not yet identified the students.
"This was an unusual event," said Carter. "Generally student don't take out their displeasure with us on our vehicles."
Jillian Brewster '03, an RC in James Hall, believes the Police are becoming more aggressive.
"For the past couple of weeks, I've noticed the Police are actually knocking on doors and coming into rooms, asking random questions. If they see an empty bottle, they'll ask if it's empty," she said. "They haven't just been hounding freshmen, but also seniors, which is getting kind of out of hand."
Brewster said that her residents are becoming more nervous about police interaction. "They close their doors every time they see a cop and it's making the atmosphere more tense," she said.
According to Brewster, some are worried about the effects of this increased enforcement on spring weekend activities.
For the second year in a row, Campus Police sent an email to the resident counselors, asking them to make their residents aware of the increased police presence. The letter was sent before the cruiser was vandalized.
"As it seems that Spring may finally be upon us, I write to ask your assistance in discouraging non-sanctioned events. The rumor mill not withstanding I would surmise that events, in particular those in first-year dormitories, are being planned," wrote Carter in a letter dated April 3.
"Campus Police will be actively patrolling the first year quad and buildings for the next few weekends. While there is no expectation for the residential staff to be police officers, I feel that words of encouragement from peers to make adult decisions and early notice to residents will assist the Campus Police immensely," according to the letter.
The letter also reminded RCs that host dormitories would be responsible for dorm damage, alcohol violations, needless fire alarms and disturbances. The letter also cautioned that non-sanctioned events make the campus less safe by diverting Safe Rides and EMTs from other areas.
"We started this policy last year, giving everyone a fair warning. We are consistent in our enforcement," said Carter.
According to Carter, there is a wide range of reaction from students when officers are patrolling the dormitories at night.
"It depends on the student. Some are polite, but one threw a beer can at an officer," he said. "Our purpose is to make sure nobody gets hurt."
Carter believes that the reminder letters to resident counselors have been effective in keeping parties under control.
"Nobody left in an ambulance last weekend and the dorm damage was minor compared to other years," said Carter. "Everyone knew we would be there, so there was less of an out of control atmosphere."
The increased patrols have not been restricted to first-year dormitories. Over the weekend, reports from upperclass dormitories indicated that an unusually high number of unlicensed kegs were confiscated.
According to Amy Randall '04, police confiscated an unlicensed keg from a small gathering of people in Mayo-Smith House.
"I decided to talk with the cop in the parking lot afterwards. It wasn't a big party and it wasn't rowdy," said Randall. "From my experience the cops usually don't come unless there is a noise complaint," she added.
According to Randall, a second keg was confiscated from a gathering of about 12 people in the basement of Mayo-Smith.
Danielle Williams '03, an RC in Davis, has not seen much of an increased presence. "To be honest, I haven't really noticed anything," she said. "But Davis has been pretty quiet, so there hasn't been much of a need for police presence."