In addition to the four Fairfield Police Officers, two Fairfield Firefighters, and two paramedic/EMTs that the University hired for the night in accordance with holding the concert, Officer Carlson looked on as hundreds emptied from Alumni Hall and began their labored march to the townhouses.
12:07 a.m. As the masses settled into parties without issue, a routine patrol ride up to Bellarmine Hall yielded the sighting of two males walking towards a dirt path into the woods. Carlson suspected that they were intending to smoke marijuana and proceeded to soundlessly stop the vehicle, observe, and reach for his radio.
Within seconds one of the guys noticed the halted DPS car and the two subsequently changed course to a well-lit walkway. Having not seen any rules broken, we resumed our patrol.
A shift change occurred and I found myself riding shotgun with Officer Morais who would be on duty until 8:00 a.m.
12:26 a.m. Reports of a surprisingly calm night at the office during the shift change proved to be a jinx as the first patrol around campus was interrupted with a reported sighting of a drunk girl sitting near the School of Nursing. Morais pulled up without his lights on, his strategy for investigating a situation without having whoever he is looking for run away, he explained. The strategy did not prove to be rewarding considering we never found the girl.
1:05 a.m. Morais and I pulled the DPS Standard Utility Vehicle up to speak with the bicycle officer just outside Townhouse Block 14. They spoke of a non-student who had been questioned earlier at the concert by Fairfield Police for talking about narcotics. The bicycle officer had reason to believe that the individual was at a party happening in the townhouse closest to us.
As Officer Morais swiveled the vehicle’s spotlight to the back porch of the house to identify the males enjoying a cigarette in the area, the light shined through the house windows and the entire party of Stags froze like deer in headlights.
1:19 a.m. As we were in Regis giving medical attention to a girl who had sprained her ankle, the tone of the night changed quickly when Morais was called to assist in the investigation of a reported fight in progress at 42 Bellarmine Road.
The drive from Regis parking lot down to the opposite edge of campus was a blur. Red lights flashing, we weaved past a string of cars and navigated the bends of one of Fairfield U’s most heavily traveled roads in seconds.
Somehow, beyond my imagination, the officer on the bicycle who we had just seen outside 14 Block was there before us.
When we arrived on the scene I was surprised and disappointed at what we discovered. In a room littered with beer cans and bottles, some empty, some full, five guys just stood in the room composed and silent.
After a few minutes of progressively less-harsh questioning, it became apparent that this was a false alarm of sorts.
There was a loud fight earlier in this room, but it was over the outcome of a round of NHL ’11. The custodian who was called in for vomit clean-up not far down the hallway must not have realized how intense a game of hockey could get before making the call.
Unfortunately for the students present, no one in the room was 21 years old, and all of the alcohol, with the supervision of the RAs on duty, had to be poured out in the suite’s bathroom.
1:56 a.m. read the DPS vehicle’s dashboard clock and officer Morais settled into his favorite late-night scouting area. “This is what I do man, people run these signs all the time and they don’t see me here,” he said just as a car ran a stop sign and made a right turn towards The Levee. “Ugh, you didn’t even hesitate!”
The lights were flipped on once again and we pursued the car. Morais reported the action, directed the spotlight at the car windows, and caught up to the car- all in a series of fluid, well-practiced maneuvers.
We pulled over into the Walsh Athletic Center parking lot. The car stopped and waited as Morais finished reciting the license plate numbers to dispatch. Protocol mandated that officers call for backup when pulling over a vehicle in case of possible hostility.
As a reunion of Morais, the bicycle officer, and the supervisor on duty unfolded in the silent parking lot, the driver was issued a warning and drove away. They discussed the events of the night and as the supervisor finished citing a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling to describe why he would have arrested the non-student that FPD questioned at the concert, a call from dispatch ordered us to Gonzaga Hall where the Area Coordinator reported suspicious persons gathering outside.
2:10 a.m. Lights off, the DPS vehicle raced over to Gonzaga Hall and drove on the walkways leading around the building to investigate. Morais left the car and we ran to find another officer under the AC’s apartment window getting descriptions. Ultimately the individuals were not found and it looked as if all remaining campus nightlife had been extinguished.
I found it convenient that the sequence of events for the night had left me right back where I started: Home. Gonzaga.
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