SigEp Students Help Defend Oxford Police Officer

OXFORD, Ohio -- Three Miami University fraternity brothers tackled a man accused of assaulting an Oxford police officer Friday night.

Ryan Hoffner, Tyler Lindroth and Charlie Nuck said they were playing Frisbee in front of their fraternity home when they saw a man beating down a police officer.

The Oxford Police Department said the officer stopped the intoxicated man walking near University Avenue and Vine Street and told him to throw away his beer, but the man jumped the officer, catching him off guard.

"Ryan was first to make the tackle, then Charlie got on top, and then I came in and held him down. All three of us held (the man) down until the officer could come and cuff him," Lindroth said.

Read more (with video): http://www.wlwt.com/news/28945045/detail.html#ixzz1Vuh39hnD

Students Help Defend Oxford Police Officer - Cincinnati News Story - WLWT Cincinnati

New Twist on Hazing

Pledge May Face Rap for Own Hazing
By Dan Mangan

A Duke University student from Connecticut who was nearly hazed to death at a fraternity has been threatened with arrest - for abetting his own abuse, his lawyer said.

"It's ridiculous," fumed Stephan Seeger, the lawyer for 19-year-old Daniel Klufas, of Easton, Conn.

Klufas, a freshman at the prestigious Durham, NC, school, was pledging at Alpha Delta Phi during the fraternity's April 24 "Hell Night."

Pledges, blindfolded and stripped to their underwear, were brought into a "very cold basement" in an off-campus Durham house, Seeger said.

Fraternity brothers "proceeded to pelt him [Klufas] with various food, sauces and very, very cold water for a prolonged period of time," Seeger said.

Klufas began "shivering uncontrollably... so one of the fraternity brothers decides that he's going to assist Klufas by pouring warm water on him for some time," the lawyer said.

Klufas then went into hypothermic shock and was taken to Duke Hospital by members of the fraternity, Seeger said.

When Klufas later went to Durham cops, Seeger said, the police reminded him of an anti-hazing law, read him his Miranda rights, and told Klufas "that he could be charged... for aiding and abetting his own hazing." Durham police confirmed that they were investigating the hazing but declined to comment further.

Wisconsin Greeks Assist Local Police

Students laud cop for Langdon St. beat
Anita Weier

There was a time when fraternity members might run at the sight of a police officer, but times have changed on Langdon Street in Madiso, Wiscinsin.

Now, community police officers help sorority and fraternity members form night patrols and often patrol with them to keep the area where many Greek houses are located safe.

The Greek community credits Madison Police Sgt. Tony Fiore, who for the past two years was the neighborhood officer on Langdon. A reception to honor him will take place Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the On Wisconsin Room at the Red Gym.

But Fiore, who was promoted Feb. 3, very much credits the students he has come to know.

"When I told people I worked on Langdon Street, I got the 'drunken college kid question,' but I enjoy working with the young leaders and helping them make a positive impact," Fiore said in an interview at Police Department headquarters.

Of course, students still party and binge-drink, so the beat is not always easy, but Fiore enjoyed the constant energy and enthusiasm in the area.

"I saw it as one of my challenges that I wanted to address that 'anything goes until all hours, open-party atmosphere,' " Fiore said.

"I think Langdon has changed. It's calmer. There are still good times, but it has changed for the better."

He also found it amazing that so many sorority and fraternity members were willing to give up Friday and Saturday nights to help keep the Langdon area safe.

Alex Sheridan, who was president of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and helped Fiore organize the Neighborhood Watch program in 2006, said the impetus was a number of armed robberies, abductions and assaults in the area.

"There was a sense of fear," he recalled. "A number of Greek presidents sat down with Officer Fiore to brainstorm what we could do to curb violence and make people feel safe. He came up with Neighborhood Watch."

Several student coordinators manage the program, and sororities and fraternities alternate nights when they provide volunteers, generally consisting of about 10 people.

The program started out with 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. patrols, but then changed to 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. after an assault occurred after 2 a.m.

The student patrols serve as a visual deterrent and are not expected to be confrontational. Volunteers wear reflective neon-like vests and carry flashlights and a flashing LED light. If a serious incident occurs or a situation is threatening, the patrols are to call 911 and be good witnesses. They don't call for minor alcohol offenses, Fiore said.

Drew Willert, who helped form the Neighborhood Watch as a leader in the Interfraternity Council, said Fiore went "above and beyond" his duties in creating the program.

"His leadership style is kind of cool. When there were sexual assaults and robberies in the area, he didn't just say 'We're doing what we can,' " Willert said.

"In general, students think the cops are the bad guys, but he was able to say, 'We're in this together.'"

In his new post, Fiore is supervising patrol officers in the downtown area -- from First Street on the east to Regent and Camp Randall on the west.

For the past two years he has worked a 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and daytime hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, when he was free to meet with student organizations and get to know people in the area.

The patrols will continue with a new Langdon neighborhood officer, Rene Gonzalez, taking charge following a hiatus during the recent bad weather.

Fiore, 36, joined the Madison Police Department in 1998 after working in the state Department of Administration as a budget analyst. He has an undergraduate degree from UW-Platteville in criminal justice and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Arizona.

After trying the state government route, he decided he was still very interested in law enforcement and "decided to go for it" at age 27.

He started out doing patrol work, went to traffic enforcement and safety and then back to patrol.

It's hard to define the statistical effect of the Langdon Neighborhood Watch, he said, because there are many other efforts going on to combat crime in the downtown area.

"But I saw a difference," he said. "People react to the visible patrols. I wouldn't ask people to do it unless I thought it was effective."

Police Beat - Extra! More Frat Boy stuff!

From the University of Arizona.

An officer reported to a drug paraphernalia call at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, 1420 N. Vine Ave., at 9:02 a.m. Friday.

The house director found a large bong while changing locks to the rooms.

The bong, standing four feet tall in the left rear corner of the room, had a strong odor of marijuana coming from it and had several pieces of residue in the bong water.

It was photographed and placed into evidence.

No charges were filed.

Refresh my memory... when exactly did Cheech and Chong join the fraternity???

Police Beat - Extra!

"Alcohol may have been involved..."

SigEps at Bradley University are apparently all about being "fratboys." Sigma Chi is in second place.

Officers wrote 34 citations for illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor at two separate parties between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Saturday.

Twenty-one of the tickets were written at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, 1522 W. Fredonia Ave., and the other 13 at the Sigma Chi fraternity house, 1408 W. Fredonia, according to Illinois State Police.

PJStar.com - Journal Star News

Police chase puts frat meal on hold

Hmmm. Cook dinner or watch the police chase a suspect? Decisions, decisions.

Residents of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at 1520 S.W. 17th were cutting William Nusser some slack for being late with dinner on Saturday night.

Nusser, 20, who lives in the fraternity house with his fellow Washburn University students, was supposed to cook dinner.

But at about 6 p.m., when he was coming downstairs to begin preparing the meal, he saw a couple of police officers run past the picture window of the house.

Like any inquiring person, Nusser would say later, "I came outside to see what was going on."

Nusser and several of his fraternity brothers stood outside the front door of their house at about 6:45 p.m., minutes after police had detained two people following a brief foot chase that originated about a block away in the 1600 block of S.W. College.

CJOnline - Police chase puts frat meal on hold

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity temporarily suspended

You have to hate it when this happens...

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity temporarily suspended
By ALAN EDRINN

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has been temporarily suspended by NIU Judicial Affairs after police responded to the house Sunday for a fight in progress.

Police responded to the Sigma Phi Epsilon house, 924 Greenbriar Road, Sunday around 2 a.m. The incident started when a car pulled into the driveway to turn around, said Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department.

The car passengers were allegedly surrounded by people congregating outside the house, and one of the passengers reported being struck in the incident. The victim did not press charges, and no arrests were made.

“We take incidents of this nature seriously and, as a result, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has been temporarily suspended until a judicial hearing can be conducted,” said Brian Hemphill, vice president of student affairs, in a statement Thursday.

“This means the fraternity may not participate in any campus activity until this case is adjudicated. Their conduct does not represent the principles of Greek letter organizations. There’s no room for conduct like what is alleged within the NIU community.”

Anyone from NIU have another side to this story? Could alcohol possibly have been involved?

Northern Star Online: Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity temporarily suspended

A few final updates and thoughts on Conclave

If you have ever been to a Sigep Conclave, or any big convention, you know there is more to do than can be done. The various meeting tracks inevitably overlap and you find yourself torn between a presentation that will address some specific need and 'face time' with HQ people or one of the volunteer leaders. Then of course there is the running attempt to catch up with all the folks you only see every 2 years. Makes it tough to report on everything that happens. So with that disclaimer here are some "leftovers" and thoughts about this year's model. It's not all hearts and flowers, either.

Good stuff:

• The tone of the Conclave was probably as close to the Cardinal Principles as I have seen.
  There were many emotional moments and stories about brotherhood that took my breath away. Archie himself was moved to tears more than once. and even the Citation recipients' speeches, normally rather dry recitations of fantastic career feats, had moving stories of how Sigma Phi Epsilon had changed and directed their lives.
• Location was good. Easy to get to - a 30 minute train ride from the airport - and lots of affordable eating nearby.
  The hotel was connected to a mall with a food court and there were other restaurants in easy walking distance so we were not held hostage to the $20 breakfasts and $30 lunches so common to hotels.
• Kudos to HQ for arranging the complementary internet access, which saved the normal $10 a day charge.
  It could have been communicated better, though. A number of us didn't find out about it until after we had set up with the paid service.
  The "Conclave Chronicle" that was under our door each morning was a good idea, too.
• No major incidents.
  That was no doubt due in part to the very evident presence of "Atlanta's finest" each evening. There was no ordering about, they were just "there".
  However I think that the real intimidation was the other convention. There were about a thousand very Christian, very matronly, and very assertive African-American Ladies on hand for a church convention. Many were adorned not only with large hats, but also with sturdy canes. One or two of those venerable ladies would be intimidating. A thousand of them is downright scary.
• Oh, yeah. We doubled the money committed to the Educational Foundation endowment.
  Over lunch.

Not good stuff:

• The hotel A/C was apparently not set up to handle the 100 degree heat we experienced.
  My room was always hot during the day, even with the A/C on full. The meeting rooms tended to get a bit 'close' for the well attended sessions.
• The Tabernacle was a bad venue for anyone who was not in good shape.
  The lack of accessibility started at the front steps and continued with steep stairs and no elevators. The air conditioning there was not up to the task, either.
• Scheduling seemed to be a problem that just wouldn't go away.
  In the printed program there were sessions that were listed as overlapping with main events.
  The guest tour was originally set to return about 15 minutes before another event. The ladies who were planning to attend that event stood firm and they changed plans to get back in time for them to get ready.
• The "Suite 16" reception that was an incentive to get more people from chapters to sign up was summarily canceled at the last minute.
  Sure, Charlie Engle, the guest of honor, had to leave early, but the reception could have taken place anyway. The "Suite 16"-ers felt cheated.
• There was a difference of opinion about whether it was possible to get separate tickets to the Saturday Awards Banquet.
  One person claims he was turned down when he tried to buy a ticket, another was able to bring a guest at the last minute. Whatever the policy is, it should be cearly stated and consistantly applied.
• To make the problem of scheduling SNAFUs worse, the major events did not keep to the times they stated either.
  The Brotherhood Lunch went over so long that the ritual preparation sessions had to be practically cut out.
  The Awards Banquet that was 'supposed' to get out at 9:45 ran until almost 11:30. If you know the event is going to run long just say so.

Overall, though, it was a fantastic experience. The good stuff more than outweighs the bad. There was a change in personnel at HQ in the event planning area recently and some of the issues are no doubt due to the transition and will be better next time. let's hope they find a way to keep the good stuff and fix the bad.

UNLV Captures Sex Offender

UNLV Police Bust Peeping Tom

The Frat Boy News daily campus police report for Friday:

University of Nevada in Las Vegas UNLV students may be a little more cautious as they go to class. There are new concerns about school security after the arrest of a registered sex offender in a women's restroom.What's usually a place of privacy no longer has that promise. At least that's what students say at UNLV. "The campus is open to the public but not to wander in restrooms," one UNLV told News 3. That's exactly what happened Tuesday afternoon.

Reports came in that a man was in a women's restroom on the university's north side. He was allegedly peeking over stalls.

When UNLV police made the arrest, they found Eric Owens was no stranger at the school, but he's not at student. Officers say he's been told to leave before, even placed on a campus watch list.

But what some say is even scarier about the 39-year-old is that he's a tier 2 sex offender from California, convicted of attempted rape and assault. Now, he's behind bars again on charges of lewd conduct, trespassing and failure to change address.

"That really brings an awareness to community here." For Diane Tuazone, that means never completely trusting your surroundings. "All my group of friends go to the bathroom together to be on the safe side, but it's a safety issue, the campus is open."

"This campus isn't in the greatest area." Which forces student Amanda Divito to take extra caution. But she adds she doesn't want police outside bathroom stalls just to keep peeping toms out.

Citing the ongoing investigation, campus police didn't want to comment on camera. While they call the incident rare, one officer tells us that with the school's busy location, keeping unwanted people off campus is one of the department's most frustrating challenges.

UC Greeks and Police Team Up for Safe Parties

U. Colorado Greeks team with police for safer parties
By Nicole Danna

Which is more unlikely: A University of Colorado fraternity raising money to support its local patrol officers, or the greeks actually getting along with the city police?

If you answered neither, guess again, because in Boulder, Colo., you won't find any bad blood between the fraternities and the officers that patrol the Hill.

Actually, they get along just fine thanks to a liaison project initiated spring of last year by Sergeant Lauri Wegscheider, the captain of the Boulder Police Department's Hill team.

"They're not against us anymore. It seemed as though, in years past, there was a lot of animosity between the greeks and the police, and we wanted to communicate more," said Wegscheider, who began working the Hill beat after a 2006 promotion.

The liaison program, designed to improve relations between the police and the greek community, assigns one of the six Hill officers to each of the university's 10 Pan-Hellenic sororities and 14 fraternities.

Each Hill officer communicates with his or her house through its president, social chair and risk management representative, and works to educate them on issues such as safe party methods, security, noise and emergency procedures.

The Hill officer is also the person the chapters alert when they are planning a party of 50 people or more, said Wegscheider. The officer then conducts a safety check in the house to ensure everything is up to code.

"Rather than breaking up a party, they've taken a proactive role to ensure it happens safely," said CU junior Nicholas Heguy, president of the Delta Chi fraternity.

And with at least one fraternity party every weekend on the Hill, the program has been helpful in keeping things under control, said Wegscheider.

"They want to have parties, and that's fine, but we need to make them safe," said Wegscheider.

For CU Greek Advocate Marc Stine, it's the perfect example of community policing.
"We've come a long way from the Pig Bowl. The [fraternities and police] are working together more than they ever have. It's really amazing," said Stine.

According to Wegscheider, the liaison program has already had a positive improvement on the Hill.

"I do think that the relationships have changed. You still have a handful of people that haven't gotten with the changes yet, but we're all trying to work together, now, and that's been great," said Wegscheider.

But the police aren't the only ones taking the time to make things better.
To give back to those who have given so much, the Delta Chi fraternity has organized an all-greek formal to raise money for the BPD Hill team.

For Heguy, it's the best way to support those who have supported the greeks during the past two years.

The event will take place before Greek Week on Thursday, April 12. Tickets cost $15 per person, said Heguy, who hopes to raise as much as $15,000 during the event.

"The [Hill police] officers have been one group that have been very supportive, not just disciplinary," said Heguy Thursday. "They work with us on education and show us how we can be safer, rather than just pushing us away, as others have done. So we wanted to help them out as much we could, because they are the only ones that have stuck by us [in the past few years].

"The fraternities are no longer recognized by the university after the alcohol-poisoning death of a freshman pledge in 2004.

Since that time, the fraternities have been at odds with the university, which asked them to defer fall rush to spring recruitment instead. The fraternities declined, and as a result, relations between the two entities have been strained.

Heguy said he would like to see the event's funds go towards new alcohol education equipment that would aid the Hill officers in their instructional rounds on the Hill.

"But whether it goes back into the Greek community or not, this is for them," said Heguy. "It's really to give back to those who have helped us."

AEPi at UMass Question Police Tactics

UMass Frat Violated By Police
Frat To File Police Complaint

The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at the University of Massachusetts believes their civil rights were violated when local police entered their house and arrested both their president and vice president last month.

Police responded to a noise complaint at their house on Saturday, Feb. 2, and came into the building without a search warrant and the only probable cause being too much noise.

"I'm just hanging out in my room with one person, and all of the sudden I hear all this commotion," said Jordan Finkelstein, a Alpha Epsilon Pi brother. "I open up my bedroom door and the police officer's standing in our house. She's standing right in front of my bedroom door, and she goes, 'Get the fu** outside.'"

The brothers were told to evacuate the house by police, who then arrested the frat's president and vice president for "unlawful noise."

"I had no clue what was going on," said Finkelstein. "You feel like you're completely helpless in your own house and you just feel like you can't do anything, and you're just completely pinned against the wall.

It just sucks when you get taken advantage of and bullied by people with power."The brothers plan to file a complaint with the local police department soon.