In response to your ODE article published Monday, titled “Increased EPD forces successfully slow parties,” the reporter failed to interview a single student for your article. I doubt that you would be able to find anyone under the age of 30 in the West University neighborhood who doesn’t know at least one person arrested this weekend. This year, as with last year and likely the years prior, the Eugene Police Department’s response was absolutely ridiculous. In publishing your article, you construed the event as a success, meaning that many people were arrested for trivial offenses.
Please represent your target audience, the students, with some integrity. You mention that “The Emerald has found inconsistencies in the data and cannot verify its accuracy.” Aka the police are not being transparent about their actions this weekend.
The question should be, “What really happened this weekend?” Well, it was awful. EPD officers arrested two of my friends who were standing by and observing from a safe distance, not drinking. One was kicked into a puddle. Students I know were afraid to walk to the store to get beer. It wasn’t the rain or the football game that made Halloween subdued, it was aggressive police presence — nothing to be lauded.
[email protected]