After one week on the job, Kevin Williams’ desk is already full of papers, his e-mail stuffed with 200 messages, and his schedule packed with roughly 100 people to meet. In the two weeks left before students return to campus, Williams, the new director of the University’s Department of Public Safety, must assess his department and craft an agenda. Behind his desk a long row of boxes remains untouched – Williams hasn’t had time to move in yet.
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Despite myriad obligations, Williams was ready and willing to talk to the Emerald. An oversized chess board dominates the round table inside his office, suggesting assiduous attention to detail and planning.
One of the most common complaints Williams has heard thus far is that DPS isn’t visible enough on campus. Though the department employs 70 individuals, relatively few are uniformed members.
“Fourteen people do not provide a significant presence,” said Williams.
He estimates 26,000 people on campus – roughly 20,000 students, 5,000 faculty and staff, and 1,000 vendors and visitors – which given the four or five DPS agents on campus per shift, explains their relative invisibility.
“This is a research institution, and we have some gifted people in the area of research,” said Williams. “My intent is to partner with one or more of those entities on campus, and perhaps consultants if necessary, so we can get a good feel for what should be here.”
William’s desire to collaborate with others also reveals itself in his approach to the parking problem at the University.
“I think it would be much better to have a conversation with the stakeholders at the table,” including student representatives, representatives from the president’s office, representatives from DPS, and whoever else would fit within a reasonably sized group. “If we include the stakeholders in those conversations, there’s going to be more buy-in than if it’s top-down management,” he said.
The University provides about 3,300 parking spaces on campus, as well as facilities for 4,400 bicycles. That leaves more than two-thirds of campus without a refuge for their chosen mode of transportation.
Within one week of being on campus, Williams has had his own struggles with finding a parking spot.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” he said. Even administrators must hunt for parking.
One of Williams more controversial stands is on the possible use of Tasers. Though it is “ultimately going to be a decision made at the highest parts of the University,” he states that he would prefer members of DPS to carry Tasers and that he would probably recommend it.
In support of this stance he cites the November 2006 Ryan Salisbury case, in which an apparently mentally ill 19-year-old was shot by Eugene police.
“I would much rather have someone stunned by a Taser than shot by a gun,” said Williams.
As a commander with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Williams introduced Tasers to Lane County jails.
Alluding to his earlier comments about the reputation of the University as a research institution, he remarked that it is an option that should be looked into further.
In the course of his own training, Williams was stunned by such a device. “It is the most distasteful, painful experience I have ever had in my entire life,” he said.
The introduction of Tasers would require additional training of personnel, an issue that animates Williams. He asserts that all further training should be handled by the Department of Public Safety Standards of Training, a Salem-based group chartered with providing basic training for all of Oregon’s security, police, and correctional officers.
“That does not mean that this training would result in us being police. That is not possible under the law,” said Williams. Such legislation would require state level intervention, as well as approval by the University.
“This is not a police department; it is a public safety agency,” he said. “My preference would be to be a police department, but we’re not there yet. So let us embrace fully what we are… a department that’s been tasked with the responsibility of providing service to this community… let’s leave the police work to the police,” he added.
Another one of Williams’ goals involves employing more University students.
“I want students to apply to come here to work for all facets for what it is here we do, including being officers,” he said.
Williams talks about DPS as a “transparent organization” that will interact with students and respond to their inquiries. “That’s going to help to build the trust with DPS. It’s not going to change overnight…” he said, “but over time that’s going to change.”