Officers say Kuprevich is hurting dept.

Several University Police officers said recently that they strongly disapprove of the methods used by Police Commissioner John Kuprevich and expressed doubt about his credibility. Seven officers said their department is now suffering under Kuprevich, who was hired by former Executive Vice President Marna Whittington a little over three years ago to replace then-director John Logan. University Fraternal Order of Police President Bill Kane said earlier this month that in his opinion the department is not happy with Kuprevich. "Lots of times, the media paints a picture of a department very happy with him and that's not true at all," Kane said. "He's got the credibility of a car salesman within the department and with the officers." Kane said Kuprevich came into the department making promises, but added that most of them have not been fulfilled. "One of the reasons that he was hired was that there was a real morale problem within the department," Kane said. "When he got here, we were hopeful. He had an open-door policy and made a lot of promises, most of which he hasn't carried through on." Another officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said morale is currently very low. "I think that he tries to appease all the special interest groups within the University community and slights his own department," the officer said. "Morale is at an all-time low. We don't feel like we have the backing of our top guy, our top man." Kuprevich said last night that he would not comment on the officers' remarks. Kuprevich has been investigating allegations of police use of excessive force following an incident Thursday when a officer allegedly hit a student twice with a mini-baton. Kane said that when Kuprevich arrived at the department he formed committees to investigate aspects of University Police procedure, including weaponry, vehicles and police operations. The committees consisted of members of the University Police department and made recommendations to the commissioner. But "he totally ignored them and did what he wanted to," Kane said. Some plans are now being implemented, another officer said, but many officers said Kuprevich is taking too long to get things done. Officers also criticized Kuprevich's "selective policing" and reactive stance toward crimes. "We're waiting for something to happen before we respond," said Gary Heller, a University Police officer and vice president of the University's Fraternal Order of Police chapter. "Incidents happen and then we're responding, instead of vice versa. We're not getting the best out of our people here." Heller also said too many young officers are leaving the University Police department, costing the University a lot of money. "We have a lot of really good young officers," he said. "We have had six to seven really good young officers leave and move to other departments. We have to ask ourselves why we have such a high turnover rate. "[Young officers] are the future of our department," Heller added. "We can't keep going about hiring new officers, training them and having them leave. It's wasting the University's time and money." Almost all seven officers interviewed said that the two major reasons that young officers are leaving is that they are not offered a competitive salary package or the chance to be "real" police officers. "We need a realistic retirement package," said another officer, who wished to remain anonymous. "At other police departments, it's 20 or 25 years and out [with a full pension.] Here, you have to work to age 65 to retire with a full pension." The officer said his colleagues are "very limited as far as the opportunities for lateral development or career development." University Police Lieutenant George Clisby, who is in charge of day-to-day police operations, said some level of turnover is normal in all police departments. A University faculty member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she believes that the "top echelon [of the University] has not been supportive to Kuprevich." She added that with the entire upper leadership leaving, he cannot look anywhere for support. Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson said last night that Kuprevich is trying very hard. "I think that the comissioner has an incredibly difficult job in which he's trying as hard as he can to achieve a level of credibility for the police force within the community and make the kind of changes that will benefit the University environment for all of its members," she said. Another officer, who wished to remain anonymous, echoed Morrisson's sentiments and said that the commissioner has suffered since the day he arrived on campus from a lack of loyalty. "There was a rough transition period from the last management team to the present one," the officer said. "There were some stumbling blocks that the commissioner had to overcome. One of them was that with a director and a commissioner at the same time, there were mixed loyalties." The officer praised Kuprevich as a "man of his conviction." "We have to carry out his plan, execute it and then if there are any problems with it, we can criticize it," the officer said. "But this criticism should be constructive." The Fraternal Order of Police contract with the University expires in August and contract negotiations will be ongoing throughout the summer. Kane said that although he understands the University is in a budget crunch, he feels the officers are facing problems too. "We're hopeful [about negotiations]," Kane said. Kane added that if Kuprevich wants his vision to come true, he has a lot of work to do. "If he hopes to see his vision come true, he'll have to win the confidence and respent of his officers," Kane said. "I don't think he has it right now." Heller said he and his fellow officers are still waiting for Kuprevich's promises to be carried out. "I think when he came on, there was a perception that we would become an elite department, a police department that others could envy," he said. "We're still waiting for this." Daily Pennsylvanian Staff Reporter Cara Tanamachi contributed to this story.