
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994                   TAG: 9411220108
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                 LENGTH: Medium

'STRUCTURED DIALOGUE' COULD AID TOWN-RU UNDERSTANDING|

Something called "structured dialogue" may be used to improve communication between Radford City Police and Radford University students who have complained about police handling of alleged noise and drinking violations. Betty Jones, a member of the City-University Joint Advisory Commission on Public Affairs, thinks the technique - which uses a mediator or moderator and strict ground rules - could open the door to improved student-police relations.

At Monday's commission meeting, Jones suggested structured dialogue as an approach after student grumblings about city police dominated two months of commission meetings. The issue also has become grist for articles in The Tartan, the Radford University campus newspaper.

"It's a time for both sides to hear what the other side is saying," Jones said. Structured dialogue is "aimed at listening" as opposed to an open forum or debate, she explained.

Assistant Police Chief Jonny Butler, a commission member, said he's familiar with the technique and would be willing to give it a try. However, he said his short-handed department had few officers to spare for the experiment right now.

Co-chairman Paul Harris asked Jones to report back to the commission in January on the possibility of setting up a structured dialogue between a police official and a student panel. But he wanted assurances that the discussion would be tightly controlled and not break down into an emotional debate. "We're not about to set up an ambush for anybody," he said.

At October's commission meeting, a university senior told the committee police often overreact to complaints involving students, but are reluctant to act when students themselves complain. A month earlier, two seniors charged police with violating their civil rights when police broke up a party.

Janet Reeves of the Off-campus Student Council said some students remain "frustrated," but she's heard no new complaints. Some students "still feel there could be something done," she said.

by CNB