The Political Action Commit-tee of the UTM chapter of the NAACP hosted its first Student Police Unity Forum on Wednes-day, Nov. 12, in Watkins Auditorium.

The forum gave students a chance to ask questions and voice concerns about issues and rights on the UTM campus and in Martin. The night was divided into several conversation topics including law enforcement procedure and training, campus affairs, police-civilian relations and minority issues.

Closing remarks for the discussions were given by NAACP adviser Dr. Rosetta Washington. Students sent in questions to the NAACP chapter and were presented to the panel, which consisted of: Martin Public Safety Director J.D. Sanders, MPD Capt. David Moore, MPD Lt. Sammy Lyles, Martin Mayor Randy Brundige, UTM Director of Public Safety Rick Hatler and UTM Capt. Steve Jahr.

Students submitted questions earlier in the week in boxes that were placed around the UC. Officers were given a copy of the questions in advance. Some of the questions that were presented and their answers included: Q: When should the Miranda rights be read? A: When someone feels their freedom has been taken away, or if questions are asked in an accusatory manner. Q: Does the police department have a quota for tickets? A: No, they don’t have a quota, but they do monitor officers who have given out too many or too few tickets. Q: If you’re pulled over, what should you do to cooperate with the officer? A: When the officer approaches, have your driver’s license and registration ready. You should have your hands visible to the officer. If you would like to know why you’ve been pulled over, ask in a polite manner.

Other questions that were asked referred to the fight that took place at the university on Aug. 22. The first question in reference to this fight: “Define a riot.”

“I think a riot is kinda like pornography. You can’t define it but you know what it is when you see it,” said Hatler. He went on to say that the penal code defines a riot as three or more people together who are expressing violent behavior and because of that behavior there is bodily harm or physical damage.

The officers informed those in attendance that if you ever feel that you have been disrespected or treated in an unfair manner, to always feel free to discuss the issue with the department. Another issue that was addressed was the number of parking tickets distributed on campus.

The fiscal year’s revenue for parking tickets came to $155,000, which is used to build new parking lots and maintain the existing lots. Hatler made the point that each parking spot on campus costs $1,000 to build and maintain.

Another topic that was addressed was racial profiling. Sanders said that he has been involved in an initiative to track racial profiling that requires officers to fill out a report after each traffic stop. But he said that no amount of paperwork could indicate the motives or feelings in someone’s heart.

“I don’t know a single police chief or sheriff that will tolerate racial profiling but it is extremely difficult to look at a department of people and see how they really feel. Usually their actions will show up better than their feelings. That’s why it is so important to make sure we hire quality people,” Sanders said.

Another question was about marijuana, which was addressed by Lyles. The question was “How much weed constitutes a felony?” Lyles said that one half of an ounce or 14.3 grams is a felony amount.

As the forum was coming to a close, Moore said that he would like to attend more forums.

“We got a list of some questions that were going to be asked earlier this afternoon; a lot of those questions were asked and I felt all of them were answered to the satisfaction of the folks in the audience – that is the key. Just by the reaction of the audience, I think everybody was satisfied and I like the idea of doing it more often.

“As long as the people asking the questions tonight are willing to listen to the answers and have a dialogue the way we had tonight, then that’s fantastic,” Moore said.