Students learn how to not get ‘busted’

More than 70 people attended a "know your rights" event last night aimed at educating students on how to interact with police officers without breaking any laws.

The purpose of the event was to educate people on the Fourth Amendment — the amendment in the Bill of Rights that addresses search and seizure regulations — and how to assert the rights in that amendment respectfully, said Irina Alexander, a junior criminology and criminal justice major and president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

The presentation was held in the Stamp Student Union as a part of Radical Rush Week — a week sponsored by the university's more "radical" clubs and organizations like SSDP, NORML and Community Roots, which hosted yesterday's event.

Heather Ness, a junior linguistics major and secretary of SSDP, said they hold this event at least once a year.

The presentation began with a 45-minute viewing of a film called Busted: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters — narrated by Ira Glasser, the former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In the video, Glasser emphasized three statements or questions he said every citizen should know: "I don't consent to any searches"; "Am I free to go?" and "I have nothing to say until I speak to my lawyer."

The event also featured a question-and-answer session, where students were given the opportunity to present questions to a panel of three speakers. Flex Your Rights Executive Director Steve Silverman, University Police spokesman Paul Dillon and criminal defense attorney Jon Katz were speakers.

Students asked the panelists questions that ranged from whether they have to open their dorm door to when they are required to show identification.

Dillon, who said he thinks events like this one are important, said a student's dorm room is like their home, so the same rights apply. When an resident assistant or a police officer knocks, students are not required under law to open the door. It is, however, in violation of dorm policy to refuse to answer, he added.

Students, who packed the room in the student union, said holding events that are practical as well as educational is necessary.

"I thought it had a lot of information people should really know," freshman chemical engineering major Asif Ahmed said, adding this was the first time he had seen the video.

estelle@umdbk.com