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http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-769168.html

Policeman who arrested students was doing his job

By Ray Gronberg, The Herald-Sun
September 12, 2006 8:11 pm

DURHAM -- A Durham police sergeant's crackdown on Duke University students last year was part of a concerted effort to get control of the off-campus party scene, not the act of a rogue cop, his former boss says.

Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and other squad leaders responsible for policing the Trinity Park area next to Duke's East Campus were encouraged to arrest students and take them to jail, rather than issue warnings and tickets, because experience showed lesser measures lacked deterrent value, said Capt. Ed Sarvis, former commander of the Durham Police Department's District 2.

Sarvis added that the pressure to make arrests came from him, and that Gottlieb's fellow squad leaders in District 2 were just as aggressive about responding to it, even if their efforts didn't show up in their personal arrest statistics.

The captain also said that before the start of the 2005-06 academic year, he sent every Duke student who'd signed up for housing controlled by two popular landlords a letter saying his officers would crack down hard on noise and alcohol violations.

"I fully stand behind the decision to make an actual, physical arrest," Sarvis said. "I sent every off-campus student in the Trinity Park area a letter and warned them of this very thing. They knew to expect it. Maybe they didn't like it, but they certainly can't say they weren't warned. They were warned."

Gottlieb, he added, "was doing his job, and doing what I asked him to do."

Sarvis offered his comments Monday, after reports surfaced in a Raleigh newspaper and the Duke Chronicle alleging that Gottlieb singled out Duke students for harsh treatment, arresting them in disproportionate numbers and in some cases allegedly subjecting them to verbal abuse.

Many of the complaints centered on the fact that Gottlieb would arrest students for noise and alcohol offenses rather than issuing them tickets. He allegedly was more prone to doing so than the other three sergeants who commanded patrol squads in District 2 last year.

The scrutiny of Gottlieb's conduct comes because of his role as the supervising investigator of the Duke lacrosse rape case. The Chronicle reported that its story was inspired by a dossier on the sergeant's arrest statistics supplied by "a Durham attorney close to the lacrosse case."

A representative of Durham lawyer Bob Ekstrand -- who counseled many lacrosse players in the early stages of that investigation -- offered to discuss the dossier with The Herald-Sun on Monday. But she stipulated that the interview be off-the-record, a request The Herald-Sun declined.

The representative, who identified herself only as Bethany, said she'd compiled the dossier.

Sarvis' warning letter, dated Aug. 10, 2005, went to students renting from landlords Guy Solie and Bob Schmitz. Its 999 words left no doubt that police intended to address long-standing complaints about the party scene lodged by residents of the Trinity Park, Trinity Heights and Walltown neighborhoods.

"We want to end this problem and the negative impression surrounding communities have toward Duke students, starting with you and the residents living with you," the captain said in the letter, adding that police would hold the residents of a home personally accountable for any noise and alcohol violations, even violations committed by party guests.

The letter said the department's response would be a ticket "at a minimum," and that more severe treatment was possible. "If the officers responding to the scene feel it is more appropriate, residents may be subject to an actual physical arrest and transported to the Durham County Jail for formal charging," the letter said.

In Monday's interview, Sarvis said he encouraged arrests because more lenient treatment hadn't made any dent in the problem. Officers found that students shrugged off tickets, with some even "taking one for the team" by accepting one and paying it off on behalf of a whole house.

The point of making arrests was to find out if the students would "feel the same way if they were taken away in handcuffs," Sarvis said, adding that the pressure worked and officers found that "students were for the most part not willing to be the fall guy" for their compatriots

The effort squared with state law and department policy that gives officers discretion to arrest people for misdemeanors, Sarvis said.

Sarvis added that he developed the policy in response to persistent complaints from neighbors. "I had plenty of residents come to me and say the student behavior was out of control and they felt we were doing nothing about it," he said. "Their opinion was that we were driving by [problems] with a blind eye."

Trinity Park activists confirmed Monday that they'd pushed the department to conduct a "zero-tolerance" enforcement effort, starting as far back as the spring of 2002. Their lobbying targeted the Police Department, city administrators and elected officials, N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement and the Durham County district attorney's office, then headed by Jim Hardin.

"There had been a 20-year history of issues here, affecting the quality of life of the neighbors here, and other students who lived in the neighborhood," said David C. Smith, a Durham civil lawyer who headed the Trinity Park Neighborhood Association from the spring of 2003 to the spring of 2005. "This isn't an anti-student issue, it's a lack-of-respect-for-their-neighborhoods issue.

Sarvis said one of the recent reports on Gottlieb's arrest statistics exaggerated the potential disparity in part by comparing them to those of another sergeant, John Shelton, who was not leading one of District 2's patrol squads at the same time Gottlieb was. Shelton replaced Gottlieb as the D squad's commander this winter.

Two of the other sergeants who were running 12-officer patrol squads in the district at the same time as Gottlieb, Laird Evans and Paul Daye, frequently delegated the task of making arrests to their subordinates, Sarvis said. Gottlieb and the fourth sergeant, Dale Gunter, tended to be more hands-on.

Gottlieb's statistics were also were at least partly the luck of the draw under the Police Department's shift structure, which asks officers to rotate shifts in a way that means a squad works one set of weekend nights a month. By luck of the draw, Gottlieb's squad happened to be on duty last Oct. 8, the night of a Rolling Stones concert at Wallace Wade stadium.

He and his officers spent a good part of that evening coping with a party at 203 Watts St. that produced seven arrests, most or all of which went on Gottlieb's ledger.

The Solie-owned house was already the "No. 1 house for complaints" about alcohol violations and noise in all of District 2, Sarvis said, adding that the raid effectively shut it down because parents notified of the incident immediately began pulling students out of the house.

Elected officials interviewed Monday and Tuesday had little quarrel with the idea of police having arrested students or cracked down on the party scene, but said there were allegations in the Chronicle's story that merited further study.

They concerned claims that Gottlieb had threatened to pursue deportation proceedings against two students, one an international student, the other a resident of 203 Watts St. and U.S. citizen with a foreign-sounding name. The student, Urosh Tomovich, is an Ekstrand client who's appealing a District Court conviction on a noise-law violation and a charge of aiding and abetting open container violations that netted him two years of probation.

"[If] any charges of racial comments or violent arrests have any merit, they need to be investigated," said City Councilman Mike Woodard, who's also a Duke employee. "But if it's just Duke students whining because they were arrested for violating the law, these were all cases of Gottlieb doing his job. There's really nothing for these students to stand on if that's all there is."

Duke spokesman John Burness said the university had been aware of the Durham Police Department's zero-tolerance policy, and said administrators would be concerned if there was evidence Gottlieb "was being disproportionate."

"It'd be a matter for the police and the city manager to look at now that it's been brought to their attention, to see if there are patterns that are inappropriate," Burness said. "If there are, we assume they'd take appropriate action."

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-769168.html

Duke spokesman John Burness said the university had been aware of the Durham Police Department's zero-tolerance policy, and said administrators would be concerned if there was evidence Gottlieb "was being disproportionate."

"It'd be a matter for the police and the city manager to look at now that it's been brought to their attention, to see if there are patterns that are inappropriate," Burness said. "If there are, we assume they'd take appropriate action."

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Someone should send John Burness this information:

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/09/nifong-duke-and-gottlieb.html

Thanks to recent articles from the N&O and especially the Duke Chronicle, we now know that:

- for a period of several months before the lacrosse incident, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb arrested 10 times as many Duke students as the district's other three squad commanders combined;

- the sergeant--who, the N&O took pains to note, has no degree beyond high school--appears to have engaged in ethnic stereotyping, asking one foreign-born Duke student if he needed to speak to his consulate and threatening another with deportation;

- several Duke students (of varying genders and ethnicities, and all unconnected to the lacrosse team) accused Gottlieb of behaving as he has in the lacrosse case--misstating facts and violating standard procedures.

Text of letter from Captain Ed Sarvis to Duke students

Sep 12, 2006 : 6:36 pm ET

August 10, 2005

Dear:

We have recently been informed that you have made a decision to move off campus and take up residence within surrounding neighborhoods of Duke University. We want to welcome you to our community. You will now be a resident of the Uniform Patrol District Two community. Our offices are located at the rear of Northgate Mall. Our desire is to see you and all residents of your home take an active role in the partnership that the Durham Police Department has enjoyed with the residents of District Two. We encourage you to get involved in the community in addition to your involvement at Duke University. We believe that strong community involvement is critical to controlling crime and improving the quality of life in any community. We have many ways for you to get involved in your new community. If you are looking for ways to get plugged in, please visit our sub-station or call our office at 560-4582.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to make you aware of a historical problem that the surrounding neighborhoods of Duke University have had and seek your assistance in making this school year one in which this problem ends. You may or may not be aware that loud parties sponsored by Duke University students have been a recurring issue for years. Some of the permanent residents of Trinity Park, Trinity Heights and Walltown have grown to resent the students due to having to endure the noise, trash and unacceptable behavior of guests at these parties. Students will create unreasonable noise until very late hours. Beer cans and other trash litter the yards of neighbors as well as the host home making the neighborhood look unsightly and reducing property values. Some neighbors have reported students even urinating on their property for their children to witness. We want to end this problem and the negative impression surrounding communities have toward Duke students; starting with you and the residents living with you.

I want to be very clear about what action you can expect from the Durham Police Department should loud parties occur in these communities. If the Durham Police Department is called to a home concerning an out of control party, the actual residents on the premises will be located and, at a minimum, will be criminally charged with violating Durham City Ordinances regarding excessive noise by way of a criminal citation. If the officers responding to the scene feel it is more appropriate, residents may be subject to an actual physical arrest and transported to the Durham County Jail for formal charging. Violation of the Excessive Noise ordinances is a misdemeanor crime, and residents will be held accountable for their actions as well as the actions of their guests.

If underage possession/consumption of alcohol violations are witnessed, our officers will criminally charge each person determined to be in violation. Residents of the home will also face charges for contributing to their delinquency. Please be reminded that for every alcohol violation discovered, is a separate violation on the part of the person(s) responsible for contributing to that delinquency.

Before hosting a large party that cannot be controlled, please consider the long-term problems you face by having a criminal record, regardless of how insignificant you may feel the offense is. A common argument residents make is that they have no control over the actions of their guests or that uninvited guests will appear. As hosting residents, you will be held accountable for what occurs on your property. If you have uninvited guests, you must take the initiative to call 911 and report trespassers. If you have invited guests that get out of control and refuse to leave, again you must take the initiative to call 911 and report a trespasser.

Further action that will be taken will be the notification to the administration of Duke University. Our department meets frequently with Duke University administration and members of the surrounding communities. Duke University has proven a commitment to maintaining good relationships with these communities. I cannot speak for the specific actions of Duke University, but I feel safe in saying that disciplinary action should be expected.

Furthermore, although you are considered adults in the eyes of the law once you turn eighteen years of age, any criminal charge you face is a matter of public record. Our intention is to assure that residents' parents are also made aware of the criminal charges they face. We firmly believe that most residents have parents that assist them in rent and tuition payments. We believe that the persons paying those bills have a right to be informed. Our hope is that they have a greater ability to modify behavior than either the North Carolina courts or Duke University.

We also want you to consider the civil liability you risk should a tragic event occur at a party you are hosting -- such as an alcohol related death or sexual assault. As a police department, we do not object to you and your housemates having parties. We recommend you keep the number of guests manageable, you assure that the noise coming from the party is not heard by neighbors, and that you take the responsibility to make sure everyone is drinking responsibly. The intention of the Durham Police Department is not to harass students, but to hold them accountable for their actions as we would any other resident of our city. As residents of this city, you have a responsibility to act in a way that does not infringe upon the rights of your neighbors. It is our sincere hope that none of these actions will be necessary this year.

We look forward to working with you to make this school year a very successful one. We hope that you will consider our invitation to get involved in our community and help us make Durham an even better place to live. If I can be of any help or answer any questions for you, please don't hesitate to call or visit.

Sincerely,

Captain Ed Sarvis

District Two Commander

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-769164.html