Let me preface this by saying that I do not drink alcohol and thus have never had any trouble with the Muncie Police Department or the Ball State Police Department concerning issues of alcohol. So as someone looking in on the new "Police Yourself Campaign" and the crack down by the M.P.D. as some what of an outsider, I am absolutely amazed at all the hypocrisy and utter ignorance I've seen day after day in the DAILY NEWS Letters to the Editor.
The purpose of the police is to serve and protect; thus we have laws, that if broken, have penalties, and we have police officers to enforce the laws. This in itself sounds simple enough. When someone is trying to break into your house, you call the police; when someone breaks into your car, you call the police. We all expect police officers to serve and protect us when it benefits us; when it is someone else breaking the law and it has negative effects on us. Bottom line, we need the police to enforce the law. What shocks me is how many people want to use the police when they are in trouble, and then these same people want to complain when the police penalize them for breaking the law.
It's a very simple equation: If you don't want to be ticketed for minor consumption, don't consume alcohol as a minor; if you don't
want to be in trouble for providing under aged people with alcohol, don't give under aged people alcohol; if you don't want to be cited for public intoxication, don't be intoxicated in public; etc...
The entire "Police Yourself" campaign" is a joke. It's not a joke because of its intentions or the way it's being handled, it's a joke because we've become a society that needs campaigns like this because we breed self-centered, irresponsible, young people with attitudes of "protect me when it's beneficial to me, but if it stops me from doing what I want, whether legal or illegal, leave me alone."
The problem is not "Police Yourself" or the Muncie Police Department, or even the people of Muncie and Ball State as a whole; the problem is individuals who take no responsibility for their actions. Don't blame the police for enforcing the law. Instead, look at the things that you do and take care of yourself. Minor consumption is a crime, providing under-aged people with alcohol is a crime, and violating noise ordinances is against the law.
Bright idea for the day: If you don't want to be punished for breaking the law, stop breaking the law.
Michael Andrews
Student
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