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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
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Officers often keep watch for outdated inspection stickers and,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
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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
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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
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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.