Speaking of corrupt UMR police officers (see the Sodomy thread), what happened to the other corrupt/powerhungry UMRPD's from the past years?

Anybody remember the deal with the UMRPD officer who (allegedly) harassed, sexually harassed, assaulted and wrongfully arrested a female UMR staff member who worked in Havener? This would have been probably spring '05 right after the opening of Havener, around March or April. There were threads on here about it; the staff member transferred the hell out of here afterwards. Apparently this guy had prior complaints. I know a formal investigation was opened, I don't know if anything ever happened of it.

And what of the whole deal with Dr. O. Manuel, the UMR Chemistry professor who was arrested last year on charges of sexual abuse of his adult children when they were teenagers and younger? I know he had some court dates, I'd think the burden of proof would be pretty hard to overcome but I just haven't heard anything recent.

Also, I don't know if this has been discussed on here before, but last June the UMR Parking Patrol traded in their cars for TWO big-ass Dodge Ram trucks (you've seen them around campus, I'm sure) to do PARKING. They've got the extended cabs and big-ass V8 engines and whatnot, and they spend 8, 10 hours a day IDLING around campus as the parking monkeys stalk meters that are about to expire. The only justification I've heard for buying two of these brand new $30,000 gas-hogs is that "it's much easier to pick up abandoned bicycles and throw them into a bed than it is to put them in the back of the Bronco we were using." But this is parking patrol--something that the City of Rolla does with a covered three-wheel Cushman golf cart. Why can't we use one of these? Every big department on campus has a futuristic-looking electric buggy. IT Services runs back and forth on campus with the white Japanese four-wheel kart with the 1337 license plate on the back. Landscape Services has trucks--old beater Ford Rangers and S-10s, and they actually USE them for lawn mowers, equipment, soil and plants.

So Parking Patrol has these brand-new, expensive-ass, inefficient, Dodge Rams that they idle 6 hours a day, drive 20 MPH the other 2 hours, presumably just so they can look kinda nice and run the run the heat/AC, while telling us that they can't open more parking spaces or improve the ones they have because Parking Services has to be entirely self-sufficient and costs can't exceed department revenues. You know what that tells me?

We have 15, maybe 20 surplus automobiles that do run, yet are never used and also aren't being sold at auction, yet EVERY PARKING TICKET YOU GET PAYS FOR THOSE DAMN TRUCKS.


As always, discuss.

Don't forget, the trucks can be used as barricades. Just thinking about all those times that we've needed a massive steel barricade on campus, that alone justifies their purchase!

The same thought occurred to me about those trucks. It really is total bullshit that they bitch and moan about not having enough money and then they go and buy those dodges.

and to use them for picking up abandoned bikes? has anyone ever even seen an abandoned bike on campus? i mean, a bike that isn't chained up and sitting there?

there's a reason i don't pay for a parking pass. it's so that i don't give any money to those lazy, fat, meter-watching douche bags.

I am pretty sure they are Dakotas not Rams. A much smaller truck indeed. I understand you are upset, but you don't have to embelish your story to prove a point.

Its a Daihatsu Midget.


[sarcasm]Well that's because they have a truck to pick them up with[/sarcasm]

Yeah, it's just ridiculous. There's no need for a giant gas guzzling truck to write fucking parking tickets. Rolla PD can get by with a little golf cart thing, I don't know why the UMR PD can't. Or better yet, they can walk. We're a small enough campus that they can cover most of the lots on foot. And in case there's ever a situation where a car parked at an expired meter becomes a national emergency requiring immediate response, they can send over a U-Po in a car.

Last year in student council, there was some meeting we could go to to deal with parking. The purpose of the meeting: to create a new fee for people that pay their parking tickets late (on top of not being able to register for classes or graduate...). The justification for the fee: They're not making enough money from the tickets they issue.

My response (wish I still had it): If you don't have enough money to pay for the parking lots, then you should be charging more for parking passes... not relying on people to park illegally (and then to not pay on time).

They LOVE it when you park illegally, and they rely on it to support themselves.

Actually I abandoned a bike on campus over a year ago. It's still there. So damn lot of good the need for a larger truck bed is.

understand the the parking dept != UMRPD. They are their own division they only share the same office.

The actual UMRPD officers will only write a parking ticket if you are not actually parked in a spot (by havener happens a lot)

TBH, we did need ONE truck. It is extremely difficult to fit more then 2 wooden barricades into the explorer, and there are times when you need 10+.

You may continue ranting on the the PARKING dept, they have their own budget and officers. Everyone who works as an officer or CSO are pretty cool in my book.

EDIT: that dosent include the fuckhead from 3-4 years ago who used to be on the forums, and capt. douchebag who likes the youngins and the fatties.

I think the trucks are a waste as well, but i dont drive to class nor have a parking permit, so they arent getting any of my money. Unless, however, they're getting some of our student fee's through some means. I see the parking trucks every day, and last week was the FIRST time i'd seen one with anything in the back, which was just a few of the parking barricades. I think a couple golf cards and a 6-wheeled Gator would be better suited. Cheaper and dont burn as much gas.

Im in agreement for parking people having trucks being dumb, just saying the PD definitely NEEDED a truck. One day I had to move about 10 barricades over to the solar house foundation before it got back from competition, would've taken about 5 trips with the explorer.

I dislike them as much as anyone, but as was said before, how the hell is a Dakota a big ass truck?

Regardless of the size or model, why do you even need a truck if all you do is write parking tickets?

Will the cycle ever end?!

Use the truck when hauling large stuff, and use a golf cart that gets eleventy billion MPG (or better yet, is electric) for writing parking tickets. Cycle ended.