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Overall the Department is in good condition and continues
to work to improve the level of service provided to the campus community. A
major change to the Department was the reorganization of the unit which took
place in January of 2008. At that time the parking and transportation
functions which along with the police division were part of Public Safety
were transferred to Auxiliary Enterprises. The name Public Safety was dropped
and the police unit was renamed University Police. This change served two
purposes. First, the Police Department can focus its efforts solely on
providing a safe campus. Second, parking and transportation, both of which
are revenue generators now reside with similar business functions under the
supervision of the Director of Auxiliary Enterprises.
Turnover this year has been low which is good for the
Department. Replacing police officers is expensive and lessens the safety of
the campus. Of the three officers who left, none were for higher pay with
other agencies. This is a big change from previous years when we could lose
five officers who went to other agencies and received thousands of dollars
more for doing the same work. The raise provided last year helped to close
the gap between our agencies and those we compete with for competent staff. The
officers that have replaced these three have been truly outstanding in their
performance thus far and have already made positive contributions to the
Department.
The Department spent a great deal of time this past year
in staff development. The creation of the Professional Standards Officer
(PSO) position has already shown positive results. This position schedules
all training which was a duty assigned to our officers in Criminal
Investigations. They now have more time to devote to their cases. The PSO has
also written a new policy manual and provided a 40 hour block of training,
in-house, to most personnel this summer.
With the addition of the Greek Village, stadium and a
growing student enrollment, there will be an increased need for more police
officers on the campus. It is anticipated that 6 more officers will be needed
in the next three to four years. One officer would be placed on days, three
on Evenings and two on Morning Watch. This would allow for continued patrol
and security checks while also handling increased call volume.
Looking to the immediate future, we need to increase the
staffing in the Communications Center. Of the twenty one shifts per week we
have two communications officers on nine with only one officer on duty the
other twelve. The responsibilities assigned the Center have grown in number
and complexity over the past decade. In 1998 the officers were responsible
for four phone lines, one radio and ten alarms. In the current Center, we
operate a multiline phone system, our own central alarm monitoring station,
dual radio systems, weather radar and a number of other pieces of technology
necessary to carry out our assigned duties. Call volume, all of which is recorded
on the Computer Aided Dispatch system has tripled since FY 1999/2000. We need
to have two Communication Officers on duty at all times to ensure that all
calls are answered as expediently as possible.
We are researching the desirability of installing closed
circuit television (CCTV) around campus as a method of increasing patrol and
apprehending criminals. In order to do this effectively, we will need sufficient
staff to monitor all current systems as well as the CCTV monitors. Under the
present personnel configuration this will not be possible.
There is an immediate need an additional locksmith. The
size of the campus is increasing and so are the demands on our sole
locksmith. With the completion of Arbor View Apartments, Adamson Hall and the
Campus Center, he is now responsible for 1800 additional locks and doors. The
Health and Wellness building will add over 300 new locks while the Callaway
addition will add close to 100 more. We are reaching a critical point where
we cannot expect one person to handle all of the lock issues we have on campus. We do not have a preventative maintenance program nor do we have a campus
wide re-keying program. In the long run we would save the campus money and
lessen liability if such programs were implemented.
An additional night time security officer is needed so
that we can have someone securing the buildings on the weekends. We are
adding additional facilities such as Callaway and Health and Wellness which
will require more time for the current officer. He must now hurry to get all
of the buildings checked which lessens the quality of the check. He also does
not have time to recheck the buildings as he has done in the past. On the
weekends the police officers are required to secure the buildings since there
is no one working security. This takes them away from their patrol activities
which are vital to keeping our population safe. A security officer is a less
expensive way to increase the level of protection on the campus.
Finally we need a new police position assigned to illegal
drug enforcement. We have been approached by the City of Carrollton Police to
work with them in a joint enforcement task force. We have difficulty in the
investigation and control of drugs on campus since we do not have an officer
with the training and expertise in this area. Much of our problem comes from
off campus and this would be a pro-active approach to dealing with the
problem.
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