Town-hall meeting on drugs

As drug-related incidents have increased in UTEP residential areas, university officials are altering the way they handle the situations and working on how to prevent occurrences on campus.

"We went from four to 17. Seventeen is not good, but it is not a whole lot. It isn't good and neither is four, one is even too many," said Ricardo Adauto, executive vice president of legal affairs and oversight. "I do think it is over exaggerating the problem, (housing services) are looking at it, because of the increase of numbers, but the increase is not dramatic or huge. It is not a ramped problem that is getting completely out of control. Housing services has a good sense of what they are doing, how they are doing it and looking at what they need to do in the future to curtail this issue. I think this is more of a housing issue than a police issue."

Omar Hernandez, sophomore pre-nursing major, said he witnessed UTEP Police responding to a reported drug-related incident Jan. 26 at Miner Village on the first floor of Hueco Hall. He said that it is not a problem for him since he avoids any area that has the odor of marijuana, but that it could be a problem for some residents because of the weekly occurrences that seem to be happening.

"Whenever I walk to class, it's really pungent. It doesn't really bother me, but I would understand why someone else would get really bothered by the smell, especially it being every once or twice a week," Hernandez said. "It does bother me that some people have to be around that when it's illegal."

As of press time, there was no report of the event on the UTEP Police's incident and crime log.

The UTEP Police Department is initiating new training for officers on procedures of handling drug-related situation after two citations given to two residents Jan. 20 were revoked due to officers not following standard procedures.

"They (UTEP police officers) have to meet certain standards during a search and the supervising officer felt like these standards were not met. One is whether there is an exigent circumstance that (the officers) thought they had to get in immediately for whatever reason and was there enough probable cause for them to go in. The supervising officer apparently felt it was a bad search and they revoked the citations," Adauto said.

The Jan. 20 incident allegedly involved women's basketball players Ryah Lacy and Chrishauna Parker, where UTEP police responded to an apartment in Hueco Hall at Miner Village in reference to an odor of marijuana, and where narcotic paraphernalia was found.

"(UTEP Police officers) knocked at the door initially and went around the back and looked in to the window and from what I understand, they saw what looked like a couple of half-smoked of what looked like joints, they went back to the front door and went inside the apartment," Adauto said. "Basically, the two occupants were given a citation, which were then reviewed by the supervising police officer back at the campus police office, who then decided it was a bad search in essence and revoked the citations."

Charlie Gibbens, director of Residence Life, said they are working on a number of plans to help eliminate any drug-related problems within the student residential areas.

"We have a close relationship with the UTEP Police Department and we've been working for months, years now, on how to decrease drug use and abuse, particularly on campus," Gibbens said. "We've been working on how to educate students about drug use and how it's detrimental to not only your health but academics as well. The bottom line is it's against the law and we are doing everything in our power to stop it."

Gibbens said Residence Life is planning a town hall-type meeting to discuss any drug-related problems affecting students living at Miner Village or Miner Heights. As of now, there is not a set date as to when the meeting will take place, but an e-mail and paper notifications will be sent out to students.

"We're taking a community-based approach. Everyone has a role in making a community you want to live in. So something we have scheduled is a town hall meeting to talk to residents about the abuses that are happening," Gibbens said.

UTEP President Diana Natalicio said training is critical for the UTEP Police Department in situations like this to make sure the civil rights of students are not violated and that the police can properly enforce the laws and regulations.

"When you start thinking about trying to balance the rights of the people who live in Miner Village and enforcing the regulations or laws that we have to enforce, you got to strike the right balance," Natalicio said. "One of the things we have tried very hard to do with the UTEP Police Department is to provide them with a sense of the difference, for example, between campus policing and city policing or military policing. I think training is critical and what we are always trying to do is emphasize the service role of a campus police force as opposed to a strong enforcement kind."

Catherine McCorry, assistant vice president for student life, said that once a situation is referred to the Office of Student Life, whether or not the university police have revoked the citations, a separate investigation is held by student life to determine if any other disciplinary actions are to be taken.

"There's something called the campus operating procedures. Those are very important, because we are bound by the procedures in those documents and it talks about the steps that are there for students regarding discipline, not just drugs, but any judicial process," McCorry said. "They have a right to a hearing, they have a right to an investigation, all that is outlined in there. The response can be very dependent on the student. It can be everything from suspension from the residence hall to the institution. Expulsion is obviously an option."