The puzzling remarks made by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. implicating Fairfield University’s Public Safety in illegally confiscating and holding drugs and drug paraphernalia (See story on page 1) could have far reaching effects for students on campus.
There’s confusion about why the attorney even broached the subject of a further investigation at the sentencing of Erick Rodriguez ’05. Both the university and the police department expressed confusion about its inclusion. His refusal to give any more detail makes it seem like his comments were meant for purely incendiary purposes and were in no way constructive.
If anyone knows the best policy for the school and its students, it is probably Public Safety. They’ve had the same system in place for years, and major problems are few. For Satti to have such influence over the way the school works without actually pressing any charges is ludicrous. Because of this vague investigation Fairfield has already changed its policies based not on Public Safety’s experience at the university, but Satti’s blanket assertions.
The school has already changed its drug policy. Now, every time drugs are found, they are sent to the Fairfield Police. Previous cases in which students only had to deal with judicial could now conceivably end with an arrest record. This is simply not a good situation for students, the university or the Fairfield police.
Students are well aware of the penalties of getting heavily involved with selling or taking drugs. The recent sentencing of Micaela Marshall ’06 and Rodriguez are enough to scare anyone straight. It should be evident that such involvement can lead to not only getting kicked out of school, but extensive jail time and a lifetime of repercussions. Harsher penalties for small offense are not the answer.
This could also bog down the courts with endless cases of students caught with just a small amount of marijuana, giving them much more severe penalties such as probation, larger fines or even time in jail. Taking the action completely out of the hands of Public Safety will not fix the problem.
Public Safety is not infallible; no one could argue that. However, they had a system that worked for everyone involved. Drugs had to be clearly documented and the top officials were present every time they were disposed. Also, all officers could be drug tested at any time. To change the system based on such dubious circumstances is going to cause many more complications.
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