Officer says police need to be involved

Scott Oliver

Making police "the good guys again" was the central message University Police Department Officer Mike Quarles brought to the Oxford chapter of the Exchange Club Thursday afternoon at Cedar's Restaurant.

The Exchange Club is a local civic organization that encourages community involvement through service to others. They honored law enforcement this month by hosting his talk on the police's role in society.

Known to many students on campus as "Officer Mike," Quarles has long been a familiar fixture at Ole Miss. His commitment to excellence and ongoing communication between students and the police has made him one of the most accessible police officers in the university community.

He began by explaining the police's traditional role of peacekeeper in society. Quoting Sir Robert Peele, the founder of the modern police role and the Metropolitan Police Department in London, Quarles stressed that the police were originally intended to be grass-roots members of society focused on maintaining order locally.

Today, however, there is a huge gap in the police officer's original task of "peace keeper" to his current role as "enforcer."

"My father instilled in me from the time I was very young that wearing that badge was something to be proud of," he said. He then went on to explain how society sometimes stigmatizes the police force and creates negative perceptions about police officers.

"The police are often seen as the enemy and as people to be feared," he said.

He said that while visiting elementary schools with his fellow officers, local school children have asked police officers questions like "How many people have you shot?"; "Do you like donuts?"; or "Why are police called PIGS?"

He emphasized misconceptions like these of police and the functions they perform in the community. "It is comments like these that have caused people to fear and ridicule the police," Quarles said.

The separation between the police and the people today is a direct result of police not being directly involved in the community, he said. The invention of the police car, though a valuable tool at times, is one of the great stumbling blocks of contemporary law enforcement.

Another hindrance to building personal relationships in the community is the increasing size of the police "beat" (an area covered by regional police). More area to cover means less time interacting with the residents of that area, he said.

But what can be done about this problem?

Well, Quarles is currently active in a program called Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) that is practiced at Ole Miss by the UPD. Improving the relationship between the people and the police is the primary goal of the program.

COPPS has introduced more publicly involved programs on campus such as decentralized police sub-stations, H.E.A.T. (Housing Enhancement Awareness Team), the Greek "Adopt-A-Cop" program, smaller territories, more foot patrol, Bike Patrol, Rebel Patrol Escort Service, Code Blues and innovative problem solving techniques.

He explained that the COPPS program works well for all aspects of law enforcement because it adapts to the needs of different areas by making the job of the police more proactive.

"I find myself being a friend, a counselor and a teacher, not just a police officer," he said. "That's what law enforcement is all about. Community policing makes the police the good guys again."