The occasional need to use pepper spray or batons has led to some complaints. When asked if there have ever been claims of police brutality, Morse said, "I would not go as far as to say 'brutality,' but there have been people who have filed claims concerning the excessive use of force by the BCPD. Some people don't agree with or understand the level of force that we have to use. That's just the nature of the job." He also said that a procedure posted online explaining the proper investigation for the BCPD to undergo in the case of a complaint being filed.
"People who protest do not understand the legality of a cease and desist order," Morse said. "Once it has been issued, they have to surrender to the authorities. For instance, if people are on private property and we ask them to get off, they have to leave. If they refuse to comply, that's when situations occur in which people sometimes get hurt," he said.
"We only use the amount of force that is appropriate for the situation," he said.
Morse said that there have been similar incidents to that which occurred at the University of Florida - when students have spoken out of turn and were asked to leave a lecture or forum - but it has never escalated to the same extent. "Generally, students comply and cooperate," he said.
This does not necessarily mean that the BCPD's job is easy in these situations. "There's the issue of freedom of speech on both sides," Morse said. "It requires a delicate balance and it creates a difficult position for law enforcement in those situations, since people are free to say what they want, and people are free to speak out and disagree."
The ideal situation is that the BCPD does not even have to step in when conflicts of this nature occur. "We like to have the University try to deal with the students before the police have to step in," said Morse, who cited the Office of the Dean for Student Development and Residential Life officials as support for neutralizing such problems.
Morse added that students have also been very compliant in situations where large groups or masses have been asked by the BCPD to disperse. "Students have always been very agreeable and they work with us in these situations," he said. "The crowd has to obey the order when we ask them to disperse, and we've never had a situation in which students haven't complied."
Between the cooperative students and the practices and equipment of the BCPD officers, it is apparently unlikely that an incident like that which occurred at University of Florida would happen at BC. "If I was in that situation," Morse said, "I would not have handled it like that."
Spring Break
