Sergeant Kaitlin Fisher of the Champaign, Illinois Police Department recently expressed her feelings for a significant portion of the populace whom she is sworn to protect and serve.
Seemingly irritated that her job entails responding to calls for service which involve students enrolled at the University of Illinois, Fisher professed to her fellow officers, “I hate college students.”
In the Champaign Police body camera video, Fisher, 32, goes on, “I know I used to be one and I thought it was like the most fun thing I ever did in my life but now I’m really starting to show my age.”
Sgt. Fisher made these statements shortly after responding to an altercation between a patron and an employee at the Red Lion bar in Champaign which resulted in a 22 year old student leaving in an ambulance.
University of Illinois Police Officers Benjamin Crane and Michael Unander laughed at the commentary (perhaps uncomfortable laughter) and also apparently realized that this point in the conversation was a good time to turn off their own body cameras. U of I Police Officer Kennedy Hartman also stood by.
Fisher has worked for the Champaign Police Department since September, 2013. She studied “exercise science” at Southern Illinois University and minored in criminal justice. Her brother, who works as a firefighter for Champaign, encouraged her to apply to the Champaign Police Department when she was 22. (July 3, 2021 News-Gazette feature on Fisher).
CORRECTION: The original version of this article mistakenly named “Valerie Marcotte” and “Matthew Seaver” as two of the University of Illinois Police officers whereas the correct names are “Kennedy Hartman” and “Michael Unander”. We apologize for the error.