Police apologize for fire drill - chapter house search
 

The Tartan
Carnegie Mellon University
December 10, 2002

Chief apologizes for Carnegie Mellon U. Sigma Nu search faux pas

By Hannah Yi, The Tartan

Chief of Police Creig Doyle has written an apology letter to the
Sigma Nu fraternity for an unwarranted search his department
conducted on November 21. Brothers waited for 15 minutes outside in
the brisk fall weather for two uniformed police officers, one
uniformed security guard, and a plainclothes detective to leave their
house.

The police conducted an unscheduled fire drill, during which time
they visually inspected the house for an antique bell stolen from the
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. But in an interview Doyle denied that it
was a search, referring to it as a "fire drill." He also said that
police could have obtained a warrant, but wanted the matter to remain
internal. The police activated the fire alarm without informing the
fraternity beforehand when the exercise would occur. Doyle confirmed
that it was the only unscheduled fire drill he had conducted. Both
Doyle and Dean of Student Affairs Michael Murphy said it was highly
unlikely that the police would ever conduct a similar operation again.

The fire drill at the Sigma Nu house was a follow-up on input that
Campus Police had obtained since the beginning of the investigation.

"We had received substantial information from a reliable source that
the stolen bell was located inside the Sigma Nu house," wrote Doyle
in an email to The Tartan.

"The fire drill was a tactic used during the investigation, intended
to resolve a criminal matter internally," stated Doyle, who added
that there was an indication that illegal entry was made to steal the
bell, which makes the crime a felony and not theft.

In an email to The Tartan, Ian Kash, Sigma Nu president, stated

"While they [Campus Police] did not actively search, they kept their
eyes open for a piece of stolen property that they believed we had,
based on a single statement from a third party."

The police walk-through was not a search because a warrant had not
been issued, stated Doyle. Places of concealment, like closets and
drawers, were not opened or closely inspected.

Police said they recovered two highway signs that will be returned to
PennDot authorities. A marijuana pipe was also recovered and will be
destroyed. But no bell was found.

James G. Gordon, of the law firm James G. Gordon & Associates said,
"If this is a ruse, then obviously they broke the law."

"They have to have a warrant to conduct a search," he said.

According to Kash, the police went to each bedroom in the fraternity
and knocked. If someone answered, he was asked to leave because of
the fire drill. If no one answered, they opened the door and checked
to make sure it was empty.

The stolen property is a 1927 antique bell from a fire truck, which
went missing from PiKA's garage sometime in October. PiKA contacted
University Police on November 17 but did not pinpoint any particular
suspect.

After the search Kash contacted Renee Camerlengo, the director of
student life, to discuss the fire drill.

"We were upset with what we felt was an unwarranted invasion of our
privacy," stated Kash.

"Sigma Nu wanted to better understand the path of travel that the
police had taken so I was there to facilitate a meeting between their
executive board and Chief Doyle," said Camerlengo.

The meeting convened the week before Thanksgiving. Bill Elliot, vice
president of enrollment, Jennifer Church, the associate dean of
student affairs, Camerlengo, Doyle, Kash, and two Sigma Nu
representatives were present.

There was an explanation of the fire drill and reconciliation was
made between both parties.

According to Kash, the police apologized and agreed that the use of
the fire drill had been a poor decision and not justified by the
nature of the crime that they had been investigating.

Doyle said he sent a letter to Kash that apologized for "any
inconvience [sic] that the fire drill may have caused them."

Doyle said he is learning that in a university environment, he and
the department must be honest and upfront with their constituents.

"I appreciate that you need to treat them [students] as adults and
with respect," he said.

Sigma Nu is not facing any disciplinary action. If new leads do not
develop, the University Police will close the investigation into the
missing bell.

PKA lost an entire fire truck? Damn.

Looks like the Sigma Nu chapter is handled themselves pretty well as far as the illegal search was concerned. Sounds like the tactics of the Keystone Cops.

Fortunately, for the chapter the items confiscated will probably not result in any charges being filed since they were taken during an illegal search.

Best of luck to PKA finding their truck.

I saw this story earlier. Don't you love creative police work?

That's crazy stuff there.

Haha, this surprises the hell out of me.

CMU is right up the street from Pitt, and we go up there fairly often.

They get away with A LOT up there, risk management wise. The cops don't seem to bug them much at all, and the LCB (liquor control board- the state agency) always focuses on Pitt.

Actually, at Pitt, the fraternities that are on campus have a pretty good relationship with the cops- the cops will do walk throughs of parties and stuff, and they'll only bust people who are totally out of hand.

I'd never once seen a cop up at CMU. Their houses are basically the same set up as Pitt, I believe, in that it's sort of a joint ownership b/w the univeristy and them.

But the lying about the fire drill thing is totally out of line.

in the words of Jay and Silent Bob (I think it was them)

"Man, F*** the Police!"