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Allie Kirkman is a sophomore journalism major and writes "AK's Opinion" for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Allie at aekirkman@bsu.edu.
Students see them in uniform every day. Patrolling the roads and residence halls, protecting student protestors and promoting awareness programs. But do students really know the person behind the badge? I didn’t. Not until I decided to sign up to have Lunch with a Cop.
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Before Lunch with a Cop, all the interactions I have had with UPD where behind email chains, administration meetings and records requests as a journalist. I’ve told stories of crime and breaking news, of gun scares and break-ins close to campus. The stuff you see every day. I was only getting the stereotypical media presentation on what a cop is and does, and I missed out on the human part of being an officer.
I will admit, I was a little nervous when I was filling out the form to set up my lunch date with a cop and two of my other fellow journalists and close friends. I didn’t know if I wanted to approach the lunch as a student or as a journalist. I knew what I thought of UPD but didn’t know what they thought of me, of the Daily News. The experience was intimidating until the day came, and I had lunch with Lt. Terrell Smith.
I was hesitant at first, but he was all smiles and laughs. As soon as I sat down with my lunch — that Smith paid for I might add — I didn’t know what to say but the typical, "So, how are you doing? Anything new?" The conversation eventually changed and turned into Smith talking about what he does as an officer with a little bit of background about where he grew up and what being an officer at Ball State meant to him. You could tell in the way he talked, the way his grin grew every time he talked about his day-to-day responsibilities and his interactions with students, that he genuinely cared. He is passionate about the university, the students and their safety. It was reassuring. It made me feel comfortable to just sit and talk with a cop.
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The conversation then turned to him wanting to know more about me and my friends. It was cool to talk about what I do as a student journalist but it was even more cool to see that Smith cared about our work. He encouraged us and laughed at some of the crazy stories we had to tell. (Remember the crazy “killer” clowns?)
The four of us shared our stories and laughs for about an hour. There was never an awkward silence. It felt like we had known Smith forever, like this wasn’t the first time we had an interaction with him. It was awesome.
It was so awesome and honestly was a wake up call to me. Why doesn’t everyone do this? Every student takes an hour or so out of their day to eat lunch, so why not do it with a cop? Why should we continue to just watch the media and think we know a cop from the headlines and videos being displayed? We shouldn’t.
You should interact, get to know UPD, no matter what profession you are going into or what you are interested in. Think about all the time and commitment the officers put into protecting our community every day. Just taking the time out of your day to be like, "Hey, I want to get to know you, let’s hang out,” can make a real difference to an officer. I have seen it in Smith, and I want every student on Ball State’s campus to see it, too.
Sign up for Lunch with a Cop. I promise you, it will change the way you see UPD and open you up to some amazing friendships with the people who are here to protect your life everyday. Plus, you’ll get a free lunch out of it, and who doesn’t like free food?
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