Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Interview Plan


For my project on medical amnesty policies, I would like to interview a Pitt police officer. I believe that a police officer would have a lot to say on the matter because he or she would be one of the first people called in a real emergency. While I have come to understand that there are some amnesty policies in place for the person who calls for help, I would like to find out whether or not there is a desire to provide amnesty to the intoxicated person as well. I feel as though police officers would be most likely to know about the current policies and whether or not changes would be coming in near future. Overall, I am looking to obtain information pertaining to the exact policies of the University as well as possible experiences from the police officer.

Because of the recent bomb threats on Pitt’s campus, there has been overwhelming student support of the Pitt police, something that I have not seen in my three years here. An interview with a Pitt police officer would add, in my opinion, a great deal of ethos to my final project and would get the attention and respect of students on campus. I will request an interview with a Pitt police officer through email and then hopefully meet at the station for a 20-minute interview. With their permission, I would like to record the interview and later transcribe it so all students could read the interview. The benefits of this interview will hopefully be two fold: I can gather more current information on my topic and I can increase the credibility of my argument.

Potential Questions for Interviewing

Currently, what policies are in place to provide amnesty for underage students who go for medical treatment due to alcohol poisoning?

 In a scenario where a legal drinker calls for help for an underage drinking, what (if any) disciplinary actions are taken? Is there usually an investigation as to whether or not the legal drinker provided the alcohol?

When a student receives a citation for underage drinking (not possession), what does the student need to do? Will it eventually be expunged?

Are medical amnesty laws for the intoxicated person something that the University is considering or has considered implementing in the past?

In your opinion, would medical amnesty laws provide students more safety or would they subtly promote underage drinking?

What alcohol awareness programs are currently run on Pitt’s campus?

2 comments:

  1. It would be interesting to see what a Pitt police officer thought about the issue in general. They deal with tons of underage drinking issues, whether serious or not, each year. Seeing the history of it, from their perspective, would be the most interesting, in my opinion.

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  2. Hey ustin,

    I think interviewing a pitt police officer would add a great deal of credibility and establish ethos in your publication. I also liked your questions you listed above. One of the questions stood out to me specifically; it was the second to last one about the officer's opinion about the result of amnesty laws. I would almost be nervous about asking that, especially if the officer is not completely educated on the policy.

    I am not sure if you know or not, but CMU does have a medical amnesty policy and i think it would be really beneficial if you tried to interview a campus police officer from their campus considering the proximity to Pitt. Since medical amnesty policy is exercised there, the officer's opinions on the result of the laws would be much more concrete and persuasive.

    Here is a link to their policy for reference: http://www.cmuems.org/WhenToCall

    --Anthony

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