UMass has (once again) found itself in the spotlight thanks to recent articles regarding the use of students as confidential informants. Recently, publications such as the Boston Globe, the Daily Collegian, and third party websites have brought up the issue of using these informants in the UMass community: something the university is now re-evaluating.
The use of drugs on a college campus is nothing new. College students may turn to drugs for a variety of reasons, whether it be recreational (like a concert or party) or motivational (like pushing through a long night of studying). But for some reason, the presence of drugs on campus has been steadily increasing, and no one seems to be able to understand or control it.
Usually, when a student is caught dealing drugs…
- His or her parents are informed
- Proper punishment is agreed upon with the academic institution
- Legal consequences are dealt with
We’re taught from a young age that when you’ve done something bad, you’ll get caught and have to face the consequences. However, we’re also taught that the police are here to protect and serve.
Since when is hiding a vulnerable student’s involvement with drugs from his parents “protecting and serving?”
According to the article in the Boston Globe, police officers saw an opportunity and offered Logan, a junior at the time, a way out of the legal consequences he was facing. The officers agreed to keep his offense under wraps if he agreed to become a confidential informant and help them uncover other drug dealers on campus.
The question is, do young adults our age even know what a confidential informant actually is and what is expected of them?
To be honest, when approached and asked this question, I had no idea how to respond. The only experience I had with confidential informants was whatever I had seen binge-watching White Collar on Netflix. Obviously being a confidential informant is nothing like how it is portrayed on TV. The danger is real.
When someone makes the choice to beome a CI, they are actively putting themselves in physical and emotional danger. But how are these dangers supposed to be understood by a 20-year-old caught in a bad situation, desperate to keep his own criminal behavior a secret from his parents? Put yourself in his shoes. If you were caught by the police, wouldn’t you do anything possible to avoid the legal consequences and your parents’ disappointment?
Thankfully the UMass administration has begun to understand the problem and has set out to review the policies on using students as confidential informants. But could it be too little, too late? If the police officers spearheading the CI program had been more forceful about getting Logan some help, perhaps his death could have been avoided.
I think that it is unacceptable for the police department to claim they had no insight that the student was involved with drugs, since when they did arrest him for dealing, they found a hypodermic needle in his room. It isn’t a large leap to assume that he was involved in personal drug use, especially since they did want him to work for them. I wonder, do other police officers run around with hidden drug problems?
The point remains: how are we supposed to feel safe on our campus? Using students as confidential informants causes so much distress and forces all of us to re-evaluate all of our interactions. Could the person sitting next to me in class be one? What about that guy at the frat party? College can be such a lonely place for so many people, but not being able to know if you can trust your own friends makes it even worse.
UMass administration should work with the UMass Police Department and collaborate on other ways to eliminate drug trafficking and use on our beautiful campus. Using vulnerable students is not the way to go and will only make the problem worse. We are the majority here, and we deserve to feel safe at our home away from home.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily represent those of Her Campus Media or Her Campus UMass Amherst.
