Royal Purple

Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: News

Kiederlen [Click to enlarge]

University Police Chief Matt Kiederlen answers submitted questions about police, the law or residence hall life in a Royal Purple column.


Q:
"A few friends on my floor let it slip that snowballs where against university policy at Whitewater. I brought this up to my New Student Seminar class, and I got my head chewed off. I simply said that I heard that snowball fights/throwing snowballs where against the law here at Whitewater and you risk the run of getting a citation. Most of the class thought that seemed rather farfetched and asked me to clarify the statement with some research. Any insight on the matter would be greatly appreciated by both me and my class."



A:
"You are right. Throwing snowballs is in fact illegal on university lands.

Now does that mean if you and some friends are having a "friendly" snowball fight you will get a citation? No it doesn't. What the law is intended for is incidents where people are throwing objects at buildings/people/items where they are potentially or intentionally going to cause damage.

So as long as "non-participants" and no personal or state property are in danger, you would not likely receive a citation.

This, of course, is all based upon the assumption you are not causing other issues, blocking traffic, being obnoxiously loud, etc. that would require police intervention. If police had to intervene because of extraneous issues not related directly to the snow ball fight, the availability of citing for the snow balls might be considered to deter the behavior.

Remember, there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. It is the job of a good police officer to understand that difference and then act accordingly in each given situation. Have fun, but be smart about it."

- Chief Kiederlen


Submit inquiries for the column to askthecop@gmail.com for consideration.

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