The Sinclair Police Department is cracking down on the number of nonstudents who occupy and often create a disturbance in restricted areas.
Restricted areas that are no longer open to the public include classrooms and the basement of Building 8, where many students and nonstudents have been observed being loud and disruptive.
Areas that are open to the public include: Building 10, The Bookstore, the Library and all eating establishments.
Since the Tartan Cantina, which served Mexican style food, was closed, Building 8 has been a restricted area for nonstudents.
Building 8 is also the home of the Student Leadership Association (SLA). SLA events and speakers are sometimes interrupted by loud music, talking, screaming and physical altercations by large crowds that gather in the building.
“For the most part, we want students to be down here,” said Manager of SLA Chris Bridges. “But we want to make sure that students have a place to gather in a safe and inclusive way.”
“Anyone who is on campus cannot be loud and disorderly,” said Chief of Police Charles Gift. “If someone is a nonstudent, they will be asked to stop their behavior and if they refuse they can be asked to leave.”
Upon a nonstudent’s refusal to comply with the Police officers request, they can be given a trespassed off campus notice.
“If a student is given a trespassed off campus notice then they cannot come back to the college,” Gift said. “They are generally given a written note saying that if they come back to the campus, they will be arrested.”
A student who is found to be loud and disruptive will be told to stop their behavior. If they fail to stop, they will be referred to Student Judicial Affairs, Gift said.
For 30 days, the Police Department will be heavily patrolling these restricted areas and warning all students/nonstudents who are loud and disruptive to respect other students around them. But mainly advising nonstudents, Gift said, that Building 8 is no longer open to the public.
After 30 days, any nonstudents found to be disruptive will receive a trespassed off campus notice.
“We don’t arbitrarily ask students for their identification,” Gift said. “Generally another person calls us and tell us that a person or a group is being disorderly then the police officers are sent to investigate.”
As the college has 25,000 students and is open to the public, there is no way of knowing who is a student and who isn’t. Gift said that nonstudents often expose themselves because of their loud and often disruptive behavior.
“Our main concern is maintaining a safe and secure learning environment for students, faculty and staff,” Gift said. “We will continue to issue verbal warnings that Building 8 is no longer open to the public. If nonstudents are on the campus, they need to have a legitimate college reason.”
Police Department to offer a 30-day verbal warning for disruptive non nonstudents
