I am a first-year composition lecturer at Cal Poly and it’s a favorite feature of my class to have “story time� as stragglers stumble in to my class late. This Monday I was shocked as the entire class raised their hands to tell me stories about their run-ins with the cops. It was totally the opposite of what I expected. Every single student reported how awesome and fun it was having them around. Many spent time conversing with them, some partied with plainclothes cops undercover, but all had a lot more respect and understanding for them.
What Mardi Gras has lost in spirit, the police department has made up for in P.R. That’s gotta be a good thing. Good job, peace officers — I’m sad that the Mardi Gras I loved years ago is gone, but I’m glad you used the opportunity to show the students that cops aren’t so bad after all.
Kristin McNamara
This article appears in Feb 17-24, 2005.