POLICE CHIEF AT COLLEGE IN VIRGINIA SAYS SHE WAS OUSTED FOR ENFORCING
ALCOHOL BAN

The police chief at Emory and Henry College, in Virginia, says she was
fired last week because the administration feared that her strict
enforcement of the campus ban on alcohol would anger alumni donors who
enjoy tailgate parties at home football games.

"They got complaints from benefactors," Wallace Ballou, the fired chief,
told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She could not be reached for comment.

College officials denied that the police chief's crackdown on drinking had
led to her termination.

"Those claims by her are exaggerated and have nothing to do with why she
was dismissed," said Dirk S. Moore, a college spokesman. "All I can say is
that the college has lost confidence in her ability to lead and direct the
campus police force. In dismissing her, we had no dispute about the way she
was enforcing the alcohol policy."

Ms. Ballou became the campus's first police chief in January 1997, when the
college turned its security force into a full-fledged police department.

Alcohol is prohibited at the United Methodist-affiliated college. But Ms.
Ballou told the Times-Dispatch that beer-drinking revelers had enjoyed
tailgate parties in the parking lot at football games, and that trash bags
filled with empty beer cans were hauled from campus dormitories every weekend.

She said that the police department had charged four people with public
drunkenness last month. In one case, a prospective student had been charged
with public drunkenness and underage possession of alcohol after he ran
through a dormitory banging on doors at 1 a.m., she said.

Afterward, the dean of students, Anthony Campbell, wrote a memorandum to
the chief stating that "any procedure that calls for the arrest of a
student or prospective student must include consultation with me," the
Times-Dispatch reported. According to Ms. Ballou, the dean was "saying we
can't arrest anyone without his permission."

But Mr. Moore said she had misinterpreted the memo. "Although we want our
campus police force to work vigorously in enforcing the law, we don't want
to be left in the dark about these things," he said.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan