Life for one MSU fraternity includes speeding tickets, breaking up fights and filling out paperwork.
The 40 members of Alpha Tau Omega are tagging along with East Lansing police officers through the beginning of May.
Each member will ride with an officer on duty for a two-hour shift.
“The misperception of college kids is that we party and we have no brains and we are just some frat guys that destroy anything we put our hands on,” Alpha Tau Omega member Jonathan Rosenthal said. “It’s not true, and that will be apparent in this police ride-along.”
Rosenthal is the Director of Community Affairs for ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government.
The fraternity approached the police department about participating in the ride-along program as a way to better showcase themselves and their behavior to the police department.
East Lansing Police Capt. Juli Liebler said the misperceptions are a two-way street.
“This is an opportunity for fraternity members to see the issues that we deal with on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “It allows us to meet each other personally and get to know each other’s names.”
Darren Breese, president of Alpha Tau Omega, was one of the first to participate.
“Students think that police are out to bust them,” the general management junior said. “And that’s not the case. In fact I found out that police really don’t give out MIPs as often as I thought they did.”
East Lansing Police Lt. Tom Johnstone said people ride along with the police often, including interns, high school students and East Lansing Citizens Police Academy students.
“Most people equate their opinion of the police from their interaction during one time,” he said. “It’s good to have one-on-one interaction without a reason to be there.”
Fraternity members started the ride-along program earlier this month. Liebler said this is the first time an entire greek chapter has participated.
Johnstone said participants sign liability forms and could either approach calls with the officer or stay in the car, depending on the situation.
Communication is the key to improving relations between police, students and the East Lansing community, Rosenthal said.
“In squashing the stereotypes and allowing the community to really get to know one another, the permanent residents can maybe have a little more tolerance for students in general,” he said.
