Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Criminal Behavior

Well, I wouldn’t really consider myself to be any kind of a nuisance to the community, but rather a supporting member of the Provo area. I want to use "The Daily Universe” to front my secret criminal behavior. I skateboard. Sometime, on Provo City streets, I skate at night without reflective gear. I will confess and say that I am not professional in any form, but as a recreationalist, I enjoy longboarding on the streets, and sometimes trying to break land speed records in Millcreek Canyon in my hometown of Salt Lake. So, imagine my confusion when I moved to Provo about four months ago, and was promptly stopped by an officer of the Provo City Police taskforce. He informed me that longboarding down Ninth East was against the law. He also told me that I needed to be wearing reflective gear that was visible from three hundred feet. In the midst of this police brutality, another police officer showed up and expressed his disdain for skateboarders and how the initial officer was being to easy to let me go.  After he was done, another officer, this time BYU police, showed up to make sure that the everything is going well, and that this menacing member of the community was being brought to justice. He assured me of how lucky I was not to be caught on BYU property where, he would be able to ticket me. After all of this, the police cars, the officers and all of the hullabaloo, we were instructed that we could leave, walking. It was rather demeaning to have all of this happen, especially because a girl that I was really trying to impress had to witness all of this as my accomplice. So the question is now, what is to be done? First, get informed. Provo City municipal code 9.32.170 states that where it is posted “No Skateboarding” it means it, and the police can ticket you. What can be done here at BYU though? Is it really such a crime to skateboard on campus? I would say no. I can see the problems that are associated with skateboarding. Damage to property and persons. But isn’t BYU a place where the Honor Code is still in force, and a place where bicycles are allowed privileges on campus? I am for a change in the regulations governed by BYU police to allow skateboarding on campus in the same fashion that cyclists have. I think that the time has come to change and allow people the chance to use this form of transportation, along with rollerblades, and scooters. This fall should be a time for change. 

Jake Spurlock

No comments: