Since an ordinance passed in 2010 which made riding a bicycle without a helmet illegal in Starkville, disputes have surfaced regarding exactly where campus ends and the city begins.
On Aug. 28, John Harper, a graduate student in public policy, and Judy Phillips, a research analyst at the Stennis Institute for Government, reported Starkville police officers were stopping cyclists and writing citations at 817 University Drive, which they said they believe is on campus.
“Two cops had set up a little bicycle roadblock and they were giving people tickets,” Harper said.
Jamie Edwards, dispatcher at the Mississippi State University Police Department, said the Stennis Institute building on University Drive is located in Starkville but is considered part of the campus.
“It would be MSU officers responding to that building,” he said.
Phillips said she thinks the Starkville police officers were overstepping their bounds by stopping cyclists at the Stennis Institute.
“Campus maintenance does all the grass, all the plantings here, the stanchions,” she said.  “The map says it’s campus, and we pay rent to campus. They must be out of their jurisdiction by at least 300 feet.”
Kayla Lee, a graduate student in public policy, said the Aug. 28 incident is not the first.
“It happened last fall semester. Two cops were out of their vehicles giving tickets to bikers there,” she said.
Brandon Gann and Laura Hines Roberson, bicycle officers with the Starkville Police Department, said while the building is part of the MSU campus, the streets are city property.
“We didn’t go inside the building to write a ticket,” Hines Roberson said. “We were on city streets, not on campus.”
Hines Roberson said she and Gann had been patrolling throughout Starkville that day.
“Those students were the first we had seen that day who were violating the helmet law,” she said.
Phillips said she believes Starkville police are intentionally targeting students.
“I’m disturbed.  I think it’s unfair,” she said. “It seems like harassment.”
David Lindley, Starkville police chief, said Starkville police write tickets in every part of the city and do not seek out students.
“We are not exclusive on where we enforce the law,” he said.
Hines Roberson said Starkville police want to hold everyone to the same standard.
“We want students to be just as safe as citizens,” she said.
Gann said bicycle officers hope to lead by example in bicycle safety.
“Hopefully, students will see us wearing our helmets and see that they need to wear helmets, too,” he said.
Lindley said the helmet ordinance included a six-month grace period before police began issuing citations for a first offense.
“We really try and make the public aware of what’s going on,” he said.
Lindley said enforcing the helmet ordinance is an important public safety issue.
“There’s always been a need for people to wear helmets as far as public safety is concerned,” he said.
Lindley said the ordinance was heavily influenced by traumatic accidents that have occurred in the Starkville area in the past, as well as research by the Brain Injury Association of Mississippi.
According to the ordinance, the penalty for violating the helmet law is $15.
Mike Harris, director of Parking Operations, said Parking Services encourages cycling and will give free helmets to students while supplies last.
“If you come by our office and ask for a helmet, we’ll give you one,” he said.
Lee suggested a meeting in which students could discuss the ordinance with aldermen and city officials.
“There should be a fair hearing with the students,” she said.