richc
NES Member
Hey all,
My son has orchestra practice every Sunday at BU on Commonwealth Ave. Generally my wife drives him in and I pick up. Problem is, as you can imagine, there are 100+ kids getting out of orchestra and there are zero parking spots. So I've learned that everyone double parks and stays in the car waiting for the kids to finish up.
So I'm double parked and I hear the whoop-whoop of a police car. I look behind me and realize I may be blocking their driveway by about a foot... still plenty of room for everyone to get in or out though. So I pull up close to the car in front of me, still double parked, and make sure there is plenty of clearance. Now I am no where near interfering with the driveway.
So the police car pulls along side and opens his window. I look down and it is a Boston University police car, although it looks very much like a Boston Police Department car. He yells at me to "move it buddy". I don't want to get in a pissing match with anyone but politely explain that my is coming out of orchestra practice any moment and has a large, heavy musical instrument. He tells me again that I have to move it and then drives off. FYI there were a minimum of 30 other cars double parked in front of me. I was not alone in this situation.
So it got me thinking... what power do these campus police have? I was double parked on Commonwealth Ave and that clearly is not BU property. I'm wondering if they have the legal right to ticket? I imagine when it comes to BU property or incidents they have the right to arrest, but where does that stop? What if they see a crime being committed on the sidewalk around BU. Do they have power or jurisdiction? What if they saw someone run a red light... can they write a ticket?
Truthfully I'm wondering if he has the authority to order me to move? If I had politely told him that he has no jurisdiction on a publicly owned street what might have happened next? I'm thinking that he has no more power to tell me to move than any normal citizen walking the streets.
Anyone have relevant experience in these matters? For the record I was CCW and clearly wanted to error on the side of caution of being courteous and respectful... which I likely would have done in any case.
Thanks,
Rich
My son has orchestra practice every Sunday at BU on Commonwealth Ave. Generally my wife drives him in and I pick up. Problem is, as you can imagine, there are 100+ kids getting out of orchestra and there are zero parking spots. So I've learned that everyone double parks and stays in the car waiting for the kids to finish up.
So I'm double parked and I hear the whoop-whoop of a police car. I look behind me and realize I may be blocking their driveway by about a foot... still plenty of room for everyone to get in or out though. So I pull up close to the car in front of me, still double parked, and make sure there is plenty of clearance. Now I am no where near interfering with the driveway.
So the police car pulls along side and opens his window. I look down and it is a Boston University police car, although it looks very much like a Boston Police Department car. He yells at me to "move it buddy". I don't want to get in a pissing match with anyone but politely explain that my is coming out of orchestra practice any moment and has a large, heavy musical instrument. He tells me again that I have to move it and then drives off. FYI there were a minimum of 30 other cars double parked in front of me. I was not alone in this situation.
So it got me thinking... what power do these campus police have? I was double parked on Commonwealth Ave and that clearly is not BU property. I'm wondering if they have the legal right to ticket? I imagine when it comes to BU property or incidents they have the right to arrest, but where does that stop? What if they see a crime being committed on the sidewalk around BU. Do they have power or jurisdiction? What if they saw someone run a red light... can they write a ticket?
Truthfully I'm wondering if he has the authority to order me to move? If I had politely told him that he has no jurisdiction on a publicly owned street what might have happened next? I'm thinking that he has no more power to tell me to move than any normal citizen walking the streets.
Anyone have relevant experience in these matters? For the record I was CCW and clearly wanted to error on the side of caution of being courteous and respectful... which I likely would have done in any case.
Thanks,
Rich