The Twitter account run by the Ohio University’s Police Department, @oupolice, has been active on social media all year. The latest instance was this past Friday, after a crime alert was posted in reference to an on-campus sexual imposition that allegedly took place last week.
The woman who reported the incident alleged that an unknown white male in a grey hoodie ran up behind her and grabbed her butt. When the woman turned around, the man ran away.
Soon after the posting, an OU student decided to pick a Twitter fight with the police.
The student started off by stating, “sounds like this event was pretty harmless to both parties involved.” The student continued with, “I am not condoning the behavior, but was the matter worth notify (sic) the whole student population?” That was before one of the student’s final gems, “That report was kind of the joke of the campus yesterday. For females and males. That sort of stuff happens everyday.”
It was then that OUPD further stressed its point.
“Getting groped by a stranger, against your will, while walking to class? That’s not a joke, it’s sexual assault — it’s a crime.”
OUPD then invited the student to get up to speed with the Ohio University Women’s Center to help further understand why what happened was serious — and illegal. Later, OU Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones invited the student to talk over coffee.
This exchange, from the police department’s perspective, is a positive example of the power of social media. It allowed OUPD to have a direct conversation with a student who otherwise likely wouldn’t have been apt to take the matter up with an officer.
The conversation might seem insignificant to some — or petty to others — but we view it as a microcosm of a campus-wide conversation that needs to be had, regardless of the medium.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Jim Ryan, managing editor Sara Jerde, opinion editor Xander Zellner and projects editor Allan Smith. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
