By Malcolm Williams

Albany, N.Y. - The City of Albany is the home to several college institutions as well as others nearby, and the city has become a popular scene for college nightlife. While often underage, local bars and clubs accommodate the students at these schools because they bring the bulk of revenue during the school year.  This creates the scene many see when passing through Madison Avenue and South Pearl Street Thursday thru Saturday night.  Along with all of the intoxicated and often underage college kids coming from these bars, you will see a number of Albany patrolmen in these areas keeping order in a city filled with college students.

And with the large student population Albany has thousands of kids roam the streets from theses bars; many learn the pitfalls of their unruly actions the hard way. They are often brought up on charges of disorderly conduct or, public urination, resulting possibly experiencing a night at the police station and some serious community service.

Geoffrey Snyder is now a senior business major at The College of Saint Rose. Freshman year he had a run in with the police after he being caught with a “chalked” (a forged id with the date of birth changed by marker or colored pencil) id to get into a bar earlier that night. Upon being stopped on the street by police officers while waiting for his friends in a driveway (they were behind a house urinating), he was asked for his id, after showing them the forged id, they immediately slammed him against the side of their car, using excessive force and derogatory language, treating him like a “violent” offender, he was then handcuffed in the back of a “paddy wagon” and driven to Albany Police Dept on Morton Ave. His hands and feet were handcuffed to a seat from 2:00 until 4:30 in the morning, Snyder was released, only to return to attend court at 7:30, being charged with possession of a forged instrument and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service to erase the misdemeanor from his records. Snyder notes he learned from the semi-traumatic experience.

            Many other students experience this same incident as Geoffrey from after being caught urinating in public. Michael Rossi, a sophomore graphic design major at The College of Saint Rose, was arrested his freshman year as well and experiencing similar treatment to Snyder from Albany officers, instead he was charged with public urination. After being approached by two officers, the officers asked him numerous questions, and after checking his “chalked” id, Rossi was arrested, he was brought up on charges of public urination, and reported to court the next morning. Rossi was sentenced to 16 hours of community service and ACD.

 In the past two years, Albany PD has made 305 arrests of students between the ages 17-25 for public urination, Making 136 arrests last year and 169 arrests the year before.

Although these violations often lead to arrests they are not uncommon for college students and neighboring communities. There are reports of the same problems in communities nearby Niagara and Ohio State. With residents speaking out along with a state legislation passed 1995 that restored the ability to make arrests for minor offenses, it forces police officers to make arrests for minor offenses like public urination.

Jesse Cort, a two-year Albany patrolman and Saint Rose Alum, has dealt with many situations involving the Albany nightlife from both sides. Three years removed from college, he experiences Albany nightlife now as an officer as oppose to a college student, when approaching situations dealing with college students he often uses more tolerance than others.

 “It’s all about Police discretion, I can relate better because I was there at a point and time.” Cort said, when asked if there was an emphasis on disorderly conduct and urination in public, he described how the students living in and around the Albany “student ghettos” (Mainly Madison Ave to Central Ave preferably where the majority of the residents are college students) don’t acknowledge that there are residents that have lived in this area for decades. Cort explained how the kids often deface the property of the residents with the urination on their yards, heavy partying and littering in the community.

“In the college area, the college kids think only college kids live there; there are a lot of good hard-working people as well as families that live in these communities, and have lived here for years.”