Unprofessional UPD

staff

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Keith Holt2401 9th St. Apt 301605-321-0395Junior Nursing Major

Who gives the right to the UPD to be excessive, rude, and unprofessional? Most of us at this college are training to be respectful professionals and shouldn’t the realm of professionalism and respect also fall on the members of the SDSU parking enforcement. I have a great respect for those who answer the call to protect and serve. I’ll even admit that even through my stack of parking tickets I even have respect for the parking patrol who brave the wind, cold, insults and whatever else to find our cars and issue excessive tickets to broke college students. Yes, I have respect for the brave men and women who dare to put $10, $20, $30, and $50 parking tickets on our cars when if they were in our position they would have done the same thing. I may even have an ounce of respect for them when I watch cars get towed away that end up costing a flat broke student money they didn’t have. I myself will always stand up and take the blame and pay the (excessive) fine when I am in the wrong.

Now let me tell you what I do not have respect for.

I do not have respect for a person who hides behind a badge and believes that they do not have to treat a student with the same amount of professionalism and respect as they would ask of me. A few nights ago that happened to me when I was dropping my girlfriend off at her campus apartment. I was dropping her off at the door, and I admit my car was sitting in the yellow, but I was in the driver’s seat and the care was running. My girlfriend was gathering her stuff and we were only there but a few seconds. My car was approached my THREE passing Parking Patrolmen and that’s when the rudeness and unprofessional started. The officer was very rude in telling me that just because he was a nice guy he was not going to give me the $30 ticket that he wanted to give me. A few more words and insults were thrown at me and I proceeded to tell my girlfriend that I loved her and I left. I was probably in the yellow 2 minutes longer that the 10 seconds that I had planned on being there if I had not been confronted by the “super-troopers.”

On my way home I asked myself a few questions.- Were they being rude or macho? Is it possible that they were being macho to embarrass a man in front of his girlfriend?- Was I really parked? Well, with me in the driver’s seat, my foot on the brake and my car in reverse, that is debatable.- Why do they think they have the right to be so rude when a simple comment would have saved me the anger and him the breath?- And last, was this officer training new recruits? I sure hope not, or this campus will still be stuck in the rut of rude and unprofessional officers.

Keith Holt