This letter is in response to the article written about police using pictures from Palmerfest to bring students in for questioning. I believe that it is completely understandable that the Athens Police would use pictures as a tool for apprehending students involved in the Palmerfest couch burning. As a student of Ohio University and a student in attendance at the fest, I believe I can offer a valuable point of view on this article.
The outcome of Palmerfest was not a surprise this year in comparison to the previous year. It is pretty fair to say that the collection of students walking up and down Palmer Street were quite frankly not expecting anything less than a couch fire. The reactions of the most recent fest were overdone, but that is a separate article. The couch burning was a fun climax to a rowdy fest, but someone is responsible for the couch fire. The fact is that the people in question committed a moderately dangerous crime.
The decision to light up the couch and any other drug related decisions they made before that were up to them and they need to accept responsibility. The police have a duty to keep the students and people of Athens safe. It is fully understandable that they make every effort within their power to find the people responsible. It was no surprise that there would be video and still cameras at the fest. It was also no surprise that Palmerfest would bring much attention to the school, to say the least.
With all of this in mind, the Athens City Police are well within a fair limit by bringing in students identified in the pictures from Palmerfest.
Andrew Smithhisler is a freshman studying business.
4 Opinion
