The Proper Response to Overzealous Tailgating Police

First of all, a note on the role of NDNation. We're simply a conduit for the voices that make up our community. When an issue such as "the tailgating-usher-police crackdown" is felt by so many different levels of our community, we raise the issue to heighten that awareness. None of us ever expected that the problem was this pervasive. NDNation is rarely the source, but an outlet for many voices who share a concern.

After watching the give and take over two days, there appear to be three parts to this embarrassing meltdown of leadership.

• A local police force that treats alumni and students with disdain and uses them as a virtual ATM.


• A leadership team including Fr. Mark Poorman, Bill Kirk, and Cappy Gagnon (Coordinator of Stadium Personnel) who have let their personal views influence the way they carry out a very important and public professional responsibility.
  
• An administration which is at the very least unresponsive, if not an advocate of these policies.

Together they have created a situation that is ripe for abuse. There's no limiter here. No one's minding the store and thinking about victim's rights.

In this type of environment, it's not surprising that abuse has happened, as too many to count have claimed. Given human nature and the competing influences, abuse has to happen in this environment.

The cops don't like the "wealthy" kids and raise money off of them. Not a new story. How else could a town rife with real crime justify using its entire police force to bust a party?

Those immediately in charge are carrying a personal anti-drinking crusade way too far, beyond any boundary of normalcy or rational thinking. Cappy's exchanges on the topics are embarrassing and far too revealing. Did he really ban "Go Irish" pins on ushers? You've got to be kidding.

The administration seems to have plausible deniability, while individual reports are attributed to drunks or malcontents or ignored.

It has to stop.

What you can do?

• Bring your cameras to the tailgate this week and for every game, and send us the pictures when abuse happens.
• Use your cell phone cameras to capture confrontations in ND Stadium and email us the story.
• Contact us with your story and we'll forward to a group of lawyers who have volunteered their time. There may be a group action pending. We'll let you know.
• Send a letter threatening to cut off donations unless this is stopped.

This won't be a one-week affair from our point of view, but a continuous effort to document and make public abuse when it happens.

If it happens, it's going to be fed around the internet at light speed. The best we can do is turn the light on the roaches. After that, we really have no influence. But you do.

Here's a fantastic example of a proper response with regard to donations to the University:

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?