Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1989)
Page 6 The Battalion Thursday, September 21,13| Th Villarreal talks with a student during a this are intended to make police offi- morning foot patrol. Patrols such as cers more visible on campus. Protecting Aggieland i w I PI CH l t i Officers often keep watch for outdated inspection stickers and, as in this case, license plates that are incorrectly displayed. Developing students ’ trust is key to difficult job Story By Don Kopf Photos By Frederick D. Joe Of The Battalion Staff Almost everybody has a stereotyped image of police officers. With television constantly bom barding us with images of brutal, steel-chinned police, our images tend to be distorted. Any day of the week we can see the boys in blue busting everybody from drug lords to terrorists. Well, sorry to spoil your image, but Sgt. David “X I hat is when everything is tied together: your training, your experience, your own intelligence, your own physical abilities, outwitting the bad guy and being able to catch him ” — David Villarreal Police officer Villarreal of the Texas A&M University Police Department isn’t Robocop. He isn’t an uncaring, cold, brutal, law-enforcement machine out to save mankind from the forces of darkness. He is a real, live, flesh-and-blood person trying to do his part to help his fellow man. That’s one of the reasons he likes his job at the University police force so much. Whether he is breaking up a fight, helping a drunk person get home safely or returning a sto len bicycle, he enjoys his job because he is helping others. Originally, Villarreal fulfilled his lifelong de sire to help others by working with the Texas A&M Emergency Medical Team and studying premed so that he could become a doctor. How ever, he tired of his studies and started looking for other ways to serve the public. That’s when some police friends began to entice him into join ing the A&M police force. “I started hearing some exciting stories about being a police officer,” the A&M graduate said'. The more he looked at it, the more he realized that having a job on the force would allow him to do what he liked doing best. Before judging Villarreal as a softheart who shouldn’t be a licensed peace officer, stories from his four years on the A&M force should be con sidered. He has been in a 120-mile-an-hour car chase during which one wrong move meant in stant death. He’s broken up his share of fist fights and has had to confront more unpleasant situations than he cares to remember. Although Villarreal smiles a lot when he talks about his job, his smile fades as he speaks about something that upsets him. He feels that some times there is a lack of appreciation from the people he is trying to serve. Many people have had an encounter with an officer and have devel oped an attitude toward other police based on that encounter. “There are attitudes, but they vary depending on the person’s background,” he said. Instead of trying to change public attitudes di rectly, Villarreal said police are being trained to be more approachable. They want people to feel more comfortable about working with and talk ing with police officers. He hopes that this will help to change student attitudes toward police so that police aren’t prejudged. Part of this training is teaching campus police to be more patient and tolerant while still getting the job done. “I’ve heard it said from both College Station and Bryan police that they could not put up with the static that we put up with from students and faculty,” Villarreal said. One of the main differences between regular city police and campus police is that campus po lice are more patient than regular city police and try to work with the campus population, he said. “We try and be a little more sympathetic to ward the public,” he said. “We understand that somebody doesn’t like to be detained because they match the description of a suspicious person in the area.” He said another difference between working on the Texas A&M campus rather than in Brai or College Station is that the.overall populationii more educated on campus. The criminal eh ements on campus tend to be more crafty that their city counterparts, Villarreal said. Like any job, working on the police force doe' have its humorous moments. “There’s always the classic when you ask any body who has been drinking how much beertho have had, you will always get the answer of one or two beers,” he said. Villarreal gave an example of a situation when he was helping a “happy” drunken individ" 1 who had consumed only “one or two beers” kept volunteering to do a cartwheel to prove his sobriety. Although encouraged strongly not to, the man performed a perfect cartwheel. Villar real said they let him go home with a friend. Villarreal enjoys his job, and although adven ture and public service originally enticed hinuo (Con that j got tl Gowa Wooc Andr “Star the ct thirds :>last, MacG memf 6i We try and be a little more sympathetic toward the public. We understand that somebody doesn't like to be detained because they match the description of a suspicious person in the area.” — David Villarreal tang c tin wh at the But 'jf the eeme we W( lite s |yith t Terry fioldin |icki; join, they aren’t what keep him on the job. Tk pride he takes in his job is one reason he stay and the thrill he gets from actually catchingcriE inals is another. In fact, catching crooks is something fro£ n g failed [or an its. We i>g to ies w< a >'e, stc ■ which he derives a great deal of satisfaction,liM,. j the high point of being an officer, he said. | ( .^ ‘ ' 1 “That is when everything is tied together: youm training, your experience, your own intelligenccl L your own physical abilities, outwitting the kj guy and being able to catch him.” Above: Villarreal assists motorist after they were involved in a minor auto accident near Zachry Engineering Center. Left: Before each shift, police officers attend a 15-minute brief ing to discuss the day’s upcoming activities.