I have to say, as a student of Northeastern and a member of the Mission Hill community, I am extremely upset at the targets of Northeastern Police Department’s newest initiative. Even though I see the articles about all of the alcohol confiscated in the past two weeks and how many students were caught and how they are going to get in trouble, I still do not feel Northeastern is deploying its police force in a proper way.

There have been numerous shootings on campus and in the surrounding communities, along with other violent crimes, and Northeastern seems more worried about the alcohol on campus.

Now don’t get me wrong, alcohol is a problem at NU, but no more here than on any other campus.

If college kids want to drink, they are going to find a way to do it. If college kids do not want to get shot, well, that seems harder to control for yourself.

My friend, who is 22, was walking down the street last week from the liquor store to his apartment on Westland Avenue and he was stopped three times by Northeastern Police and asked for identification. Three times seems ridiculous to me, especially because this student does not look underage.

If they have enough cops to stop my friend three times, then how about putting some of those cops to good use and trying to deter or stop some of these violent crimes. I do not see how alcohol is more of a danger than everything else that has been going on around campus.

Northeastern Public Safety needs to take a look at the program they are running and realize these events keep getting closer to the heart of campus. Imagine telling a parent there was a shooting in the student center. How would an incoming freshman’s parents feel about that?

Northeastern needs to stop worrying about looking good to the community in regards to alcohol, but it needs to keep students safe. There are more and more instances of juveniles attacking or harassing students and even faculty in the buildings on campus, but Northeastern still deploys more police units to combat alcohol on campus.

This new initiative, which uses more cops to find alcohol, does not seem to be stopping students from getting drunk, but I have noticed the violence around campus has increased. Coincidence?

— Ryan Luks is a junior business and criminal justice double major.