Somerville Police caught between student and resident pressures

Life as a Somerville resident near a campus of 4,100 often rowdy college students is not without a few problems.

"I remember one Saturday night when I physically could not drive up my street because 60 or 70 drunk kids had overflowed from a house party into the street," one Tufts neighbor said, on the condition of anonymity.

Conversations with neighbors around the Tufts area reflect the precarious position Somerville Police Department officers find themselves in. Officers must try to keep neighborhoods quiet and orderly, while still allowing some kind of social activity among University students.

Tensions between neighbors boiled over earlier this year, when permanent residents demanded a crackdown.

"Some of my friends told me that they have been unable to get to sleep until three or four in the morning because of these parties. These people have kids in elementary school, and obviously something had to be done about that," the same Somerville resident said.

Somerville Ward Seven Alderman Bob Trane is approaching the situation with a degree of pessimism. "Unfortunately, the remedy to this situation must go into law enforcement mode," he said. "If this problem isn't solved, we're just going to have to make more arrests."

An additional police car was assigned to patrol the area around Tufts during the weekends. The assigned officer, however, SPD Sergeant Stephen Carrabino, does not see his job as strictly adhering to the will of permanent residents.

"My role here is not to arrest," Carrabino said. "I'm here to educate, and try to get students to see the other side's perspective."

Since he began patrolling the streets adjacent to Tufts last semester, Carrabino said that he has witnessed highly inappropriate behavior similar to what residents describe. "On a given night, I can easily see five individual cases of open container violations in a two and a half hour time frame. I've also seen students urinating on private property and right on Curtis Avenue," he said.

"Oftentimes I feel that students aren't always aware of policies such as open container laws, and if I catch violations, I try to explain the situation to them."

Nevertheless, he holds a more optimistic view of the situation than Trane does.

Carrabino said that whenever he approached Tufts students, he was treated politely and with respect, and has always acted in kind. "People who think that this is an 'us versus them' situation are mistaken," Carrabino said. "Tufts is as much a part of the Somerville community as any other place here."

Students have complained this semester that Somerville police officers have used unnecessarily rude and belittling language.

But Carrabino said some people have a misguided notion of how the SPD operates. "We do not drive around until we see a loud party and immediately break it up. I was once in college too, and I want students to have a good time."

"Unfortunately, we are obligated to respond to neighbors' complaints, but I always try to resolve the issue with as few problems as possible. If I have to arrest someone, I will, but it's always the last thing I want to do."

Carrabino contrasted the Somerville policy with the Amherst Police Department, which operates with a "zero-tolerance policy."

He said a given weekend might see upwards of 40 arrests per night in the town of Amherst. At Tufts, there have been fewer than a dozen arrests all year for open container violations.

Carrabino attributes the root cause of the problem to be a breakdown in communication between Tufts students and their neighbors. He is not alone in believing that Tufts and Somerville are taking steps in the right direction to solve this problem.

"I really have less and less reason to complain lately ... I've had a lot less problems with Tufts kids this semester than I did last. Hopefully they're starting to realize that some people have to get up before noon to go to work the next day," another neighbor said on condition of anonymity.

There have been some signs of action on campus. On March 28, Carrabino held a discussion with the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate to answer any questions about alcohol on campus.

"I was pleased with what [Carrabino] had to say," TCU Senator Rafi Goldberg said. "Carrabino wisely pointed out that students who live off campus have both the same rights and the same responsibilities as every other resident of the neighborhood, and that he goes out of his way to avoid unfairly targeting students."

Senator Jeff Katzin said that Tufts has made serious efforts outside of the Senate forum, as well.

Katzin cited a letter sent out to all off-campus residents, signed by Dean Reitman, TCU President Chike Aguh and Public Safety Director John King, that clarified policies of Somerville, Medford, and Massachusetts state law regarding noise violations and alcohol issues.

Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel was present at the March 28 Senate meeting, and said it was a positive step in improving the relationship with neighbors.

"It's obvious that students understand that this is a legitimate problem, and a number of students have expressed a willingness to partake in an ongoing dialogue to work this situation out," she said.

In the meantime, students and neighbors are going to have to get along as best they can. "As the weather gets nicer and the semester winds down, students are going to want to relax and party," Rubel said.

"They're just going to have to be sensitive to the fact that their actions might unwittingly affect a larger scope of people than their immediate party."

TCU Senator Randy Newsom said that only a mutual tolerance will result in acceptable living circumstances for both parties. "As students, we need to be respectful of the neighbors. And as for the Somerville residents, they need to realize that Tufts is valuable to the community," he said.

"Tufts brings lots of money, lots of opportunity, and neither Tufts nor Somerville can exist as well as they have without each other. It's a mutually beneficial relationship and both sides need to realize that and work from that point."