"I'm
not naive enough to expect officers to inform on other officers,"
Pecino replied. While they are instructed to report the use
of excessive violence used by fellow officers, he said, "it's
really tough" to expect that to happen. "We have to
rely on supervising officers to see it, not fellow officers."
Pecino assured everyone that he was beginning an examination
of the April 22nd incident which resulted in several residents
being hit with nightsticks and two persons being arrested, one
of whom had the film in his camera exposed while in custody.
Laura Price, president of the I.V. Park Board, appealed to both
the audience and the police to understand that the police are
victims of UCSB's over-enrollment policies just as much as I.V.
residents.
"This
is a community that has been turned into a pressure-cooker situation
because of UCSB's overenrollment," she said emotionally.
"Students are exploited by the University as well as by
landlords. There's just too many people here and the rents are
too high. In the long run, we're just going to have to say to
the University to stop this overenrollment. And the police should
realize that they are being used as pawns this policy."
Sgt. Olguin added that Isla Vista is a lot different place than
when he served here eight years ago. "We never had any
problems shutting down parties on Del Playa. But now, with the
live bands, five-to-six hundred people--I'm not going in there.
I might just be starting something I can't finish. The Fire
Department won't respond anymore to fires in the dumpsters,
because their trucks have been damaged by the crowds. And even
paramedic trucks hesitate to go onto Del Playa on the weekends,
unless we assure them we will break up any crowd."
"Plus, look at the statistics from last year," added
Pecino. "Violent crimes are up in I.V., in all the categories
people are concerned about."
Pecino made the point that the Foot Patrol was going to continue
to enforce the ban on open containers of alcohol on the street
established two years previously. "This is a moral question
to me," he said. "There is just too much alcohol abuse
among young people--too many crazy people, especially highschoolers,
along Del Playa. We're going to continue to try to control it."
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