DECEMBER 26, 2025 POLICING POLICE from page 8 gave me a free bike lock when I registered my bike, but did nothing when my friend’s bike was stolen. I registered my electronics, but I don’t really expect them to help if they are taken. A lot is about ego and control, not protect and serve. My grandfather was a cop and goodhearted; the good-hearted often get other jobs. Those who become police ‘maim’ other people. Even the nicest, with the culture, can get sucked in, a lot do fit negative stereotypes of racism, prejudice and violence. I don’t like ‘All Cops Are Bastards,’ but we need a measured response and nuance.” Buddy 3: “I don’t really go to Ann Arbor, Eastern, they’re full of shit. They like harassing people from Deja Vu to the beer cooler. They trespassed me from the downtown library through EMUPD.” Buddy 4: “U-M: if you go on their property they have jurisdiction. Went to the hospital and I looked homeless. I had my stuff and my bag. I went there for a headache, and asked security for help with directions. Went to the bathroom and was confronted in the bathroom by three, one security and two police. They asked if I needed a psychiatrist, overly focused on psychiatry. I was treated like a violent criminal threat, [because I’m] homeless and a poor vagrant.” Buddy 5 is a current graduate student in Washtenaw County, and an EMU alum. "EMU police — their ability to get someplace lacks, they are a little late to things, late to emergencies and not as helpful to college students. When they have to take up Title IX things [sexual assault], they don’t find the person who did it. They say, ‘We’ll let you know if they find them,’ and they don’t follow through. When things happen on campus they don’t patrol or protect the community enough. [Campus police] have cars that sit by buildings during the day and night and that is a step forward in protecting the community, and some that walk around, right on campus. That is good, definitely have a presence on campus. In Greek life they come to our parties when they get calls because someone complained and they ask us to turn down the music. They sometimes enjoy a hot dog, chill, enjoy the party, and after multiple calls they would flash a light and were dicks. Parents taught me to not trigger them but sometimes they have other things going on and you don’t have a lot of control.” Buddy 6 has been local seven years, and is currently a U-M graduate student. “I haven’t gotten charges. I’m strongly against the existence of cops, experience has been entirely negative. When they respond to protests and direct actions, they are looking for reasons to brutalize protesters and students. They will beat and assault protesters and tell you they are concerned about your safety while they are beating you up and assaulting you. You are blocking the sidewalk so we’re going to stomp you into the ground. I don’t think they should exist but we should have groups that don’t just plaster the word safety and actually care about the community and are willing to work towards safety collaboratively and not carcerally.” Buddy 7 is an international EMU alum and was enrolled to begin graduate school Fall 2025, until a trespass impacted the start date of the program. “The purpose of DPS should be for students to feel safe and heard, and to take care of students and their neighborhoods. They should be able to go to them, feel heard, not worry, feel safe, and they should help them out as much as they can. I don’t know if it was my situation or case, but I didn’t feel I was heard. I asked them to check the cameras, but they didn’t use their tools. Others have had similar situations and they [EMU] have done due diligence. Court has impacted my social circle, taken an emotional toll, cost me for a lawyer, and I’m continuously stressed out.” Buddy 8 “was trespassed for a year from Shapiro Library, about five years ago, for having too much fun. They don’t have the same tolerance for homeless people that Ann Arbor police have. You have to watch out and keep your head on a swivel when you are in the library.” Buddy 9: “I like [U-M], but in my last car accident I didn’t have updated insurance, and they let me update my insurance, let me go with addressing it within 24 hours. I was at work at the hospital in security which works with the police. U-M is not like Eastern, EMU are bullies in the community, they do stop and frisks. U-M doesn’t do stop and frisk and they probably get over twice as many cases. [EMU police] hang with the local city and state police, which gives them another level of racism and racial profiling. Nobody’s really 10 years in and they act like it’s the 80s. 'I’m legit' and they harass us at the gas station. A lot of people don’t know their rights, more harassing than problem-solving. They aren’t part of the community, don’t want to be a community member or a community officer, they are against the community, not even of a mindset to be a part of it. U-M doesn’t really go out of the way, but they are more optimistic and sympathetic about who they talk to.” In closing, there were many similar experiences, concerns and overall impressions among those interviewed. The community expressed contrasting attitudes for the future of university policing ranging from complete abolishment to feeling they have purpose but need reform. Since the introduction of local university policing around the time of the civil rights movement, the climate around the campuses remains similar especially as it pertains to concerns around free speech, violence, and civil rights. Both universities claim to be committed to highly-trained and qualified personnel, yet the reality for most community members is the police escalate situations and lack the ability to connect meaningfully with the community. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 13 PRISON BREAK MARQUETTA "Q" CLEMENTS Groundcover contributor Prowling through the Jungle Gorillas taught me fight or get killed Weakened but ambitious Became Tarzan with the blood and tears that I’ve spilled Paranoid and mistaken Still I Rise, unshaken Born broken, you can’t break me Nothing to lose The world is mine for takin’, who lost? Felt hopeless, now it’s clear My angels led me here to bring war Everything shall burn, so the phoenix can soar Ahold of us he grips Media censorship The poor raised in pits No glory, no grit Protect this land of Holiness Pharoah clutched his hands on his sword A Patriot I boast Lead me like Moses my lord Walk by faith my sight unfolds “Let my people Go” War before defeat Land of the brave, the free, the dream Have we lost our way? Like the Boston Tea Party Strike back Free meals for prisons vs children school lunches taxed I’m furious, attack It’s time for a prison break Break every chain
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