Lyssa Beyer

Let me paint a picture for you – imagine you’re driving down Water Street on a Friday night. You haven’t been drinking; you’re just making your way out of town with a few friends to visit a few others. It’s been snowing so you’re being extra careful to take corners slow. Just as you pass Second Street, a police car pulls out behind you. Even though you know you were not doing anything wrong, you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. As you get closer to Clairemont Avenue, you see the light at the end of the tunnel. You’re going to make it!

Then you realize that the light is really blue and red and not the tunnel’s end you were hoping for. These lights are instead right behind you and want to pull you over to the side of the road, please.

This very thing happened to my boyfriend and me last weekend. Of course we were very confused about why we were being stopped. The officer informed us that he was pulling us over because the license plate on my boyfriend’s car was dirty and he had trouble reading it to run the plates. Also, the light above the license plate was broken and we would have to get that fixed. Additionally, it is illegal to have anything hanging from a rearview mirror, and the object in question? A graduation tassel and a parking permit. How many of you are going to take a second look at that air freshener before heading to classes tomorrow?

The kicker? When we went to Wal-Mart to replace the light, it wasn’t broken.

Many of you may have noticed the police out in force in the bars last weekend. They were recently awarded a grant to help cut down on drunk driving. Maybe this was the cause of their rather aggressive display of authority this past weekend?

However, I can’t find it in me to link a dirty license plate with drunk driving. I have never seen anyone stumble out of a bar, pick up a handful of sludge and smear it on their license plate before driving off. I honestly don’t know why anyone would. Is this some sort of a secret sign I don’t know about? Have I been getting it wrong all along? I thought that I was supposed to be watching for swerving and speeding, is it really as easy as just looking for a dirty license plate?

Clearly the grant can’t be the reason for the dense swarm of police this weekend, so what was it? My theory – they were just letting us know they’re there, keeping us in check, so to say.

Generally, I don’t mind police officers. It is very unlike me to say anything negative about the police force, as my interactions with them have mostly been favorable. I haven’t gotten into any major trouble in my life. I am admittedly a terrible driver, yet I’ve only been pulled over once, and was let go with a warning. Police officers simply are just not out to get me.

Actually there is only one police officer in my hometown. His name is Cory and he’s a good friend of my family. The reason that Cory is a family friend is not because we go way back; it’s because Cory is a friend to all the families in town. He’s well-liked and respected by the community.

The difference between Cory and the police officer who pulled my boyfriend and me over is when Cory gets bored he talks to the locals. He knows us and respects us and he does not assume that we are breaking a law. When Cory gets bored he doesn’t drive around trying to find an enemy, he makes a friend.

What the Eau Claire Police Department needs is a lesson in how to respect the UW-Eau Claire students who they are paid to serve and protect. Nobody needs to be protected from a designated driver who is not the legal drinking age, or a cautious driver with a dirty license plate. Now, I don’t kid myself into thinking that the Eau Claire Police will take time to personally get to know all the students in town, but it would help if they would smile at us when they drive past instead of glare.

We don’t need to be enemies with the police. But it is difficult to look kindly upon an organization that sees you as a troublemaker no matter what you do. It is possible for police and citizens to live in harmony.

Harvey is a junior print journalism major and assistant photo editor of The Spectator.