LUPD exists to keep students safe and patrol for danger on campus, but many Loyola students are dissatisfied with the LUPD, myself included.

As we try to come back to normality after being in a pandemic for two years, LUPD needs to do better upholding their responsibilities.

One of the biggest issues is with the parking garages. Personally, I haven’t parked in the school garages in a long time. When you are going to school in person for two to three hours a week, there’s no point in paying hundreds of dollars for the permit. I’d rather get my steps in and park somewhere a couple of blocks away.

But why would I even want to go into the parking garages when there are so many safety hazards? Students have reported reckless driving in the garages, in some cases nearly hitting pedestrians. Despite warning signs of the levels being monitored by a radar, drivers do not care to slow down. If monitors are not going to stop reckless driving, then surely the presence of LUPD would? Spoiler alert— that’s not the case. In fact, the only cars LUPD seems to monitor are parked cars. This is a part of their job, but it seems to be all they care about.

There is a severe lack of signs or clarity about the rules. One rule many aren’t aware of is that you must pull into parking spots instead of backing into them. How are students supposed to know this? All of the warning signs are only posted at the front desk, and with the number of cars I’ve seen backed into spaces, it’s clear they haven’t seen the signs. Many students use the garage without clear understanding of the regulations. Students have received parking violations for doing things they were unaware was wrong. Another thing that many aren’t aware of are the rules of the levels in the garages, which are determined by residency, time, and whether you’re faculty or a student.

LUPD is around for roughly half of their responsibilities, and one could argue that many of the problems that arise happen so fast that LUPD can’t always be there in time. You can obviously report incidents to LUPD, but they are not always accessible.
One of my interactions with them went something along the lines of “we are only open between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:30 pm.” Why are they closed at night when that’s when crime is more likely to happen? Not to mention, calling LUPD will direct you to Tulane’s police department. According to one of the LUPD front desk workers, LUPD merged its services with Tulane’s police department. I have no clue when this merge happened, but this is another example of their lack of communication.

Accessing the LUPD building is also difficult, and the door to emergency services is always locked. At this rate, what’s the point of even calling their office? I might as well just call NOPD.

At the end of the day, I get that they are just doing their job, but there should not be such a negative stigma towards the people who are supposed to keep students safe; something has to change.