The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Mollie Kinsman A student built a small staircase across a railcar and painted the words "The River Mill Saints" on the steps. [Click to enlarge]

Students continue to cross railroad tracks to get to campus, and University Police have a clear message: Get caught doing it, and you will be arrested.

"I understand the frustration and inconvenience it causes, but it's private property, and if people continue to cross, they will be prosecuted," University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said Thursday in a phone interview.

One student cut through a fence Great Walton Railroad constructed to keep students from crossing, Williamson said. Another student built stairs across a railcar with "The River Mill Saints" painted on the steps.

"Some don't see it as private property because it's been this way since they've been here," he said. "We hoped that closing fence holes would help give the impression that it's an improper crossing."

Police announced early this month that students shouldn't cross the railroad tracks along campus, particularly at the N08 lot next to River Mill Apartments.

"Some students are going out of their way to follow the law, but a handful are holding on as a position of principle," he said. "I talked to a few students I saw today, and I want students to know I've warned them. If we get over there and you're there, we will make an arrest."

One student wrote an e-mail to The Red & Black, expressing his upset that a railcar was parked between the hole where many students cross between the apartments and campus.

"Handling the situation with all the panache of an angry toddler, the Great Walton Railroad evidently decided it would be best to make it impossible for students living in River Mill Apartments and further down N08 to cross the tracks by putting a multiple car train in the way," John Smith said.

"I could not find the statistics for arrests made for crossing the tracks, nor could I find the statistics for injuries and fatalities on the Great Walton Railroad, but I can say that in my time at UGA I have seen hundreds of people walk across the tracks from River Mill to N08 with no irritation from trains nor from police."

Smith said he was upset that "no public announcement or council was held on the decision whether or not to seal the N08 fence."

He suggested the University build a crosswalk for students at that location.

Williamson said although he understands several concerns, the University can't control what occurs on private property.

"While trespassing may be a misdemeanor, it's a much more serious crime to vandalize and destroy government property," he said, citing the cut fence and an instance in which a student tampered with the breaking system on one of the parked railcars.

"The railroad company made a complaint that while hooking up and trying to move the railcars, people were going under them and could have been hurt," he said.

"It's a huge liability, and they want us to arrest people who trespass and vandalize to show the courts they've taken action."

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