Sometimes juggling multiple calls at once, Department of Public Safety officers are being forced to respond to service calls slower than they’d like because of understaffing.
“In the five years I’ve been here, we’ve been fully staffed once for 30 days,” Lt. Herb Horner said. “It makes it difficult for everyone. We’re all on overload. We’re doing more things than we’d normally be doing.”
Cpl. Kent Abbott, who has worked at DPS since 1984, said he remembers when up to six officers patrolled campus, dividing campus into four or five parts.
Abbott usually splits campus patrol into two parts when he’s on duty, with 13th Avenue dividing north and south, he said.
“With fewer officers, you have more areas to patrol and more delay in response,” Abbott said.
DPS typically has two officers on duty at all times, Horner said, but he’d like to have three officers patrolling campus.
The staffing shortage has caused delays in responding to assistance calls such as building access requests, Abbott said. He can be up to seven minutes late after a service call is made during class changes. Ideally, Abbott said he’d like to respond right away.
To fill this void, DPS is hoping to fill four officer positions, two sergeants and one director, Horner said. DPS plans on interviewing eight applicants for the officer positions within the next week.
“I’m not sure we’ll get four hired out of that, though,” Horner said.
DPS is also trying to recruit community college criminal justice students, Horner said.
Reactions from students have been mixed.
“Some understand, and others are upset,” Abbott said. “They want service and they expect it.”
Abbott said he’s frustrated when he can’t respond to a call right away.
“You learn to be more sensitive, and you’re always thinking ahead,” Abbott said. “You learn to multi-task.”
Fire, crime-in-progress and medical emergency calls take priority to other calls, Abbott said. The department tries to respond to priority calls immediately.
“We can get to anywhere on campus within a few minutes,” Horner said.
The officer shortage at DPS mirrors national and local trends. Oregon ranks last in the country for officers per capita, according to the Eugene Police Department. The national average for officers per thousand people is 2.41; Oregon’s is 1.58; and Eugene’s is 1.25.
For DPS, this means officers take longer to respond to service calls, Horner said.
Oregon was hit hard in 1981 with a timber-related recession, Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said. The recession affected police recruitment and hiring because there were fewer dollars in tax revenue pouring in from the once-profitable timber companies.
“We’ve never recovered since then,” Kletzok said.
DPS has lost officers because of retirement and job transfers, Horner said.
Former military members often joined the police ranks after Vietnam, but that generation is starting to retire, Horner said.
“It’s a pretty easy transition to go from the military to law enforcement because law enforcement is considered quasi-military,” Horner said.
DPS also competes with state, county and city agencies that recruit similar applicants.
“We have peace officer authority without being considered peace officers,” Horner said. “It’s a weird place to be in, so as a result, officers don’t get the same benefits, retirement or pay. Everything is at a much lower rate.”
DPS also loses officers to other police agencies.
“We have very qualified and talented people, and they sometimes want to get into municipal jobs with the county, state and city,” Abbott said.
Abbott said he chose to stay with DPS because he likes the campus atmosphere and has the chance to respond to a variety of calls.
“You’re guaranteed to meet a diverse group of people, and campus is always stimulating,” Abbott said.
University sophomore Andrew Gunsul said he feels campus is safe with current staffing, but he said DPS should focus on responding to different calls. Instead of responding to alcohol and marijuana related calls, DPS should respond quicker to more serious calls, he said.
“With what they have now, I feel more than safe,” Gunsul said. “I don’t feel threatened by smoking or drinking on campus.”
Gunsul said he’d like to see DPS focus on theft crimes and sexual predators. He added that the campus needs DPS and Eugene police to keep the campus safe.
Horner said that despite understaffing, DPS continues to respond right away to life-threatening calls.
“We’ll drop whatever we’re doing and head that way,” Horner said. “I’ll run from my desk if I hear an in-progress call.”
Contact the crime, health and safety reporter at [email protected]