By AMEARA DITSCHE
Staff Writer
An Albany Police Department Officer paid Saint Rose a visit, at an event hosted by the Black Student Union, on Tuesday Oct. 30. The topic at hand was the importance of voting in the upcoming election, and the police involvement in the community.
The event started off with Saint Rose Professor Marda Mustapha speaking about the importance of voting, especially in our community. He discussed the fact that the older generations are stereotyping millennials as non-voters, and that if we continue to feed into those stereotypes, politicians will take that into account when policy-making. The main goal of a politicians is to be elected, and votes are what get them in office. So, if millennials aren’t voting, then politicians won’t take them into account when creating policy.
Mustapha brought up the counterpoint that millennials are not politically disengaged. He offered a different definition of politically disengaged and argued that considering that millennials are one of the most politically engaged generations. He brought up events like student walkouts and large protests, many of which were organized by the youth. Even if young eligible voters aren’t voting, they are finding other ways to be politically active. They care about issues, making it even more important to vote.
“If you threaten the profit margin of a businessman, he will listen. If you threaten the votes of a politician, he will listen,” said Mustapha when he reminded millenials of their power.
After, the floor opened up for students to talk about this issue and specifically maybe why they, or people their age, don’t vote. BSU member Jaylen Parker brought up the point that the information required to vote isn’t made accessible to young people.
Other students agreed and brought up issues that make it hard for them to vote, and by the end most people in the room seemed more eager to take advantage of their right to vote this Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Next was the main segment, Albany Police officer Joseph Acquaviva sat down with two students from the BSU who have had bad experiences with the police. The goal was for him to be able to establish that not all police are bad people and to hopefully provide explanation as to why the police do certain things that we do not understand.
First was Nardia Watkins. She told the story of when she was walking home after school in eighth grade. Watkins explained that she didn’t attend the best school and there would often be fights, thus a strong police presence. One day was particularly chaotic, so there were more police officers on duty than usual. She saw kids she knew getting slammed to the ground and arrested. She was walking away when and officer suddenly stopped her. The officer asked her where she was going. Watkins replied that she was going home and the officer told her to “walk faster.” She turned to continue home when the officer hit her with a baton.
Next, Jaylen Parker shared his story. He first explained that even prior to this incident he was hesitant of police officers due to his family’s history with them.
Parker and two of his friends were renting CitiBikes and riding around on them. On that night, three black males were witnessed committing a robbery and fleeing on bikes. Parker and his friends, fitting the initial profile were stopped to be questioned. The officer however, handled the situation poorly. Parker and his friends were searched and interrogated, and then handcuffed.
After the two shared their stories, Officer Acquaviva explained what happened and why, while also responding to their feelings and questions. He didn’t excuse the behavior of the officers, like the one who hurt Watkins, but he did explain that what happened to Parker, while not ideal, is simply just police procedure.
After this panel it became an open floor for all in attendance to ask questions about both the stories told and police involvement in general. Students asked Officer Acquaviva questions and he provided answers and explanation.
Each BSU meeting ends with a segment called Uncensored, where people can speak about anything. Parker told his story to BSU President Tyler Sumter who had heard Watkin’s story before, and had the idea to host an event to try and bring peace of mind to them, and to her students who feared events like this from taking place.
“We wanted to show that not all police officers are bad people, and offer both sides of the story for everyone, so everyone could feel safer. This event was mainly about equality.” said Sumter.
With consent of the two who shared their stories, the BSU board was introduced to Officer Acquaviva and the event was planned.
The event summarized the issue of police brutality troubling the community. People were given a platform to share their ideas and get explanations and answers directly from someone on the inside.
