In an effort to make the Department of Public Safety the preeminent law enforcement authority on campus, the University may eliminate its contract with the Eugene Police Department, a move officials say would not affect student safety on campus. Officials could not say whether more DPS officers would be hired to replace EPD’s presence, or whether DPS would be authorized to carry guns and Tasers, which EPD campus officers do.
The EPD contract expires June 30 and, if not renewed, would remove three officers and one sergeant assigned to patrol the campus. A contract between the University and EPD has been in effect for at least 20 years, DPS Associate Director Douglas Tripp said. Without a contract, EPD would still respond to campus incidents requiring its attention.
For the past 18 months, DPS has been hiring officers with broader law enforcement backgrounds to better handle campus crime, University spokesperson Julie Brown said. Even though EPD officers would be removed from campus, Brown said the change would benefit students because EPD officers would be available to better address larger community issues, including student affairs off campus.
Brown and Tripp say DPS is qualified to handle the low-level campus crime EPD currently has the sole authority to address. Also, by removing the EPD positions, Brown said the University would be able to redirect contract funds to address DPS’ overall mission to improve its service on campus. DPS has limited authority in citing and handling crimes on campus, although Tripp said DPS responds to almost 95 percent of all campus incidents and only notifies EPD if additional help is necessary.
“It would immensely streamline the process,” Tripp said. “EPD officers won’t have to go to court for citations filed on campus, and they won’t have to take the time to come to campus to file a citation if DPS can do it.”
EPD Chief of Police Pete Kerns said this would be the largest change to the contract that has been made in recent history.
Under the current contract, the University pays the full salaries and benefits of the four contracted EPD employees, a total cost Kerns estimates to be a little less than $500,000 a year. He said the University has initiated all action to change the contract.
“The University said that as we both began working on next fiscal year’s contract that there may be changes,” Kerns said. “Thus far, all the discussions have either been very, very informal with the city or internally held at the University.”
University senior Torsten Staley said he doesn’t believe officers should carry guns on campus and that by increasing DPS’ authority, students may be less inclined to report crimes.
“I tend to look at DPS like ‘junior cops,’” Staley said. “No offense to them, but I know that if I get in trouble with them I’m not horribly busted.”
DPS officers have the power to make an arrest but not to cite for one. Thus, they must hold the subject until municipal police arrive to cite or provide transport to jail.
Any change to the contract will have no effect on EPD, Kerns said, and the EPD employees who currently fill the three officer and one sergeant positions will be absorbed into vacancies at EPD.
The recent propositions for change come at a time when it is necessary to clarify the service EPD provides to the University, said Frances Dyke, University vice president for finance and administration. Although the sergeant and officers are fully funded, their full shifts are not spent on campus, Dyke said.
“University safety may be their primary responsibility but that doesn’t mean they’re physically here during the full work week,” Dyke said. “In the contract, we want to define the services and define the funding for those services.”
Kerns said although he doesn’t want to assume the meaning of Dyke’s statement, it’s possible she is referring to the other work that takes the officers away from campus. However, Kerns said “the majority” of their time is spent on campus when they don’t have assignments elsewhere.
Formal details of next year’s contract will continue to be ironed out in the weeks and months ahead, which representatives said made them hesitant to say more. However, Dyke said the main goal of both organizations is to simply provide the best service for the University and the larger community.
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