THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
The University Daily Kansan
vol. 135 // iss. 30 Thurs., Dec. 7, 2017
SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
Miranda Anaya/KANSAN Emily Beckman, reporter for the University Daily Kansan, goes on a ridealong with officer Kendall Freeman of the KU Public Safety Office.
CHINESE FOOD AND MOTORCYCLES A morning in the life of a KU Public Safety Officer
EMILY BECKMAN @emilybeckman7 It’s Monday, Dec. 4 around 9 a.m. KU Public Safety Officer Kendall Freeman checks the vehicle he’ll be driving for the day to make sure everything’s in order before leaving the Public Safety Office, located at 1501 Crestline Drive. He gives me a short tour of the office prior to departing. I’ll be riding in the passenger seat for the next three hours.
MEETING OFFICER FREEMAN
Freeman is originally from Lawrence. His father is a lieutenant with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and has been there for around 30 years, he said. Freeman has been a police officer for almost three and a half years, and he’s been employed by KU PSO for the entirety of his career. Prior to becoming a police officer, he said he was an animal control officer in Lawrence for a year and a half. He said he enjoys being able to give back to the community through his work. “For me, it’s also a big plus that it’s a good career that I can make my family proud with and provide for them and everything like that,” he said. KU PSO shifts are split into days, evenings and midnights, Freeman explained. Officers work four 10-hour shifts per week. Freeman currently works day shifts — 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Monday through Thursday.
Officers change shifts every six months, and the next change will be in February. While there are perks of the day shift – like getting off at 6 p.m. and getting “reminded that not everybody’s drunk and angry with you” – Freeman said he enjoys working nights and hopes to work nights after the change.
RIDING SHOTGUN IN A POLICE CAR
Officers have quite a bit of freedom as to where they patrol, Freeman said, but today he’s keeping tabs on the North District – campus north of Sunnyside Avenue and east of Naismith Drive. He explains that the primary responsibilities of a public safety officer include responding to calls and taking reports. Freeman starts the morning off by driving through his entire district once, and checking in on the major parking lots. He lets dispatch know that he’s out and available. By 9:30 a.m., we’ve patrolled the North District quite a bit and find a parking spot by Murphy Hall to observe traffic. Within a few minutes – in the middle of telling a story – he puts on his lights and stops a car headed south on Naismith Drive. The driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, I learn. Freeman has been trying to warn people that the fine for not wearing a seatbelt recently jumped from $10 to $30, he said. After running the driver’s information through the system, Freeman gives a warning. At 9:43 a.m., the
driver puts on their seatbelt before driving away. While Freeman sometimes writes tickets, he said he understands that his interaction with students on a college campus could be their first interaction with a police officer – so it never hurts to be nice.
day,” he reminds Freeman through the driver’s side window. The two have a weekly Panda Express lunch date at 12:30 p.m. on Mondays, I learn. Freeman says he can’t go – he brought his lunch and he’s trying to eat healthier.
“If anybody sees us out walking around or driving around or stopped somewhere, always feel free to talk to us. We’re all people too.” Kendall Freeman public safety officer
At 10 a.m., after driving around campus a bit more, there is some commotion on Freeman’s radio. He asks me to look for a map in the glove box of the vehicle. He examines the map to locate Lot 31 before saying, “We’ll go see what they have for us.” We end up on Allen Fieldhouse Drive. Another officer, who had arrived before us, pulls away and three people are left standing near a chain link fence. Freeman asks me to open the glove box again. This time he needs a digital camera. Through the window, I hear the driver of a delivery truck explain that he hit the fence. Freeman takes photos of the fence, the truck and the license plate. The other officer pulls back up to the scene. Freeman gets back into the car and the second officer – Daniel Affalter – stops to chat. It’s “Panda Mon-
“It’s my Friday, I won’t see you again until Sunday for the basketball game,” Affalter said. This is considered “overtime season” for the officers since they work all of the football and basketball games. Before leaving, Affalter looks at me and asks me to convince Freeman to go to Panda Express with him. We drive around some more. Freeman explains that accident reports can be lengthy, but the one we had encountered was easy because the driver already had the necessary information ready. “Now all I can think about is Panda,” he said. He always tries to start eating healthy on Mondays, he said, but Affalter always wants to go to Panda Express. “Maybe Tuesday will be better,” he said. Around 11:15 a.m., Freeman sees a driver head-
ed south on Iowa Street texting and not wearing a seatbelt. He wanted to stop them but determined he wouldn’t have been able to reach them in time. We end up near Clinton Parkway and Crestline Drive when he spots two motorcyclists speeding. He turns on his lights to do a traffic stop with the intention of giving speeding tickets. When they see him, the motorcyclists head north onto Kasold Drive, speeding and weaving through traffic. We’re going about 90 miles per hour, but it doesn’t take long before they’re too far gone and Freeman discontinues the stop. “We do not pursue on traffic violations,” he said. Freeman does, however, pull over a third motorcyclist who had been riding near them. He did not originally intend to pull the rider over, but stopped him to see if he knew who the others were. He said he didn’t. “People who ride their motorcycles like the two that took off are the ones who give a ‘bad name’ to motorcyclists,” Freeman said. “There’s a time and a place for that, and it’s not on a public street, and it’s not on a Monday at noon,” he said. It’s around 11:30 a.m. now. Freeman explains that decision-making is a huge part of his work as a police officer. We’re at the intersection of Bob Billings Parkway and Iowa Street going east when Freeman rolls my window down and says “Visitor Center” out the window.
Affalter is in the lane next to us. The two officers meet in the Visitor Center parking lot to chat about what had just occurred. It’s 11:40 a.m. and we take one more lap around campus before heading back to the station. Freeman says he has never had people run from him like that. But at least one positive thing will come from it. He is one of the Field Training Officers for the department, which means he helps train new officers. “Things like that are a good teaching point for them,” he said. Just before noon, we arrive back at the station. He says the morning was pretty normal for the most part. “It’s kind of hard for us to say anything’s normal because I’ve never come in two days in a row and had the same day,” he said. While Freeman recognizes that people sometimes think police officers are mean, he said the officers with KU PSO are “all very approachable and easy to talk to.” “If anybody sees us out walking around or driving around or stopped somewhere, always feel free to talk to us,” he said. “We’re all people too.” Before the end of the day, Freeman will look at the dash cam footage he took during the attempted traffic stop to see if license plates are visible. He will also put all of the reports he took into the computer. But first, he will probably go to Panda Express with Affalter for lunch.