Now that the Department of Public Safety has commissioned eight of its officers, the agency contends it will be able to serve the campus in a more professional and efficient way and improve DPS’ handling of some incidents.
But some on campus still question the need for officers to detain and search or arrest suspicious persons on campus.
The staff of the Office of Student Advocacy criticized the plan to commission officers when DPS Director Tom Fitzpatrick announced in January that he would begin the commissioning process. Assistant Director Marcy Butcher said that opinion has not changed since the officers were commissioned last week.
Butcher said she does not understand why DPS officers need to be able to arrest people when the agency already has a close relationship with the Eugene Police Department.
“It seems a little redundant to commission DPS officers,” she said.
She also said it was somewhat troubling to her that DPS officers would be granted the right to arrest and search students, and those same officers would be patrolling in residence halls.
While Fitzpatrick has repeatedly said commissioning officers does not mean they will soon be carrying firearms, Butcher said armed DPS officers would be the “next logical step” and questioned the need for such a force on campus. In the event that there was be an accidental shooting, Butcher said the University could suffer a liability lawsuit.
Commissioning officers also may change students’ perceptions of DPS, Butcher said.
“It takes away from help and assist,” she said. “People are going to be reluctant to approach officers.”
ASUO President Jay Breslow said he and other student leaders are still a little upset that they were left out of the decision-making process in commissioning officers. But he said the issue is now something outside student government hands, and he has been working with Fitzpatrick to keep a student voice in the process.
He said the issue of commissioning officers is one of balancing the needs of the students and also keeping in mind the right level of authority for campus security.
“We don’t want to put students in danger or give DPS officers too much power,” he said.
Breslow said he has been working with Fitzpatrick to help form an advisory committee and has been pleased with the level of cooperation from DPS.
“Mr. Fitzpatrick is a pretty straight shooter,” he said.
While he admitted that he hasn’t kept abreast of DPS’ internal policies, Breslow said he believed the officers who were commissioned received the proper amount of testing and screening.
Eugene Police Department Patrol Captain Becky Hanson said DPS’ commissioned officers will not have much of an effect on how the two agencies handle campus incidents.
She said the biggest impact could be if DPS officers frequently make arrests and call the EPD to request a transport for suspects to jail. DPS policy restricts its officers from leaving the campus, Hanson said.
Hanson also said in the event of a violent or lethal incident on campus, she would hope DPS officers would call for EPD assistance because the DPS officers still can’t carry firearms.
“You don’t really want a [DPS] officer confronted with that situation,” she said. “It’s just really not that safe.”
Deborah Carver, the interim librarian, said her staff has to call DPS several times a week because of incidents at the library. She said several of the library’s patrons are not associated with the University, and often her staff or others using the library encounter some difficulties with people with “behavior problems.”
Carver said the thought that DPS officers have received more professional training gives her a better sense of assurance when she calls the department for assistance.
“I’ve had a positive reaction to the change,” she said.