Emergencies can spread police thin

When a major crime occurs on campus, University Police respond. But that response also takes many officers off the streets. On any given night, a minimum of 15 University Police officers are on patrol. This includes officers on the beat, in three patrol cars and on two bikes. This is a change from years past when there were more cars on the street, but no bikes. Yesterday at about 6 p.m., two University Police cars and two bikes – along with many Philadelphia Police officers – were at 38th and Walnut streets to close the street for the Philadelphia Bomb Squad, which was investigating the report of a suspicious package in the Psychology Building. That left one car and no bikes to patrol the rest of campus. But, according to University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich, the campus was still safe. "In the past everyone was there [when a major crime was committed]," he said. "The balance is having the proper numbers and resources to address officer safety, while meeting the need of the community." Kuprevich believes his new policy of stationing patrols around the inner campus will help ensure that the campus is protected, even during an emergency at a specific location. According to his patrol directive, the foot patrol officers stay at their posts and the bikes and cars respond to radio calls. "It's about trying to balance staffing on the street," he said. And Kuprevich says if the cars get tied up in a crime, there are many other cars sitting idle at the police headquarters which a sergeant can assign to a foot officer to bolster the mobile units. Several officers, however, have complained there are not enough officers in the department, and many of them are on injury leave, which strains the remaining officers. Kuprevich agrees. "We have a number of officers out on disability and injuries, and that could go on for months," Kuprevich said. "I'm processing hiring for seven additional officers." Kuprevich has also hired civilian dispatchers to get the officers he has onto the streets. "The dispatchers have gone through a training process, and when we're ready, the dispatchers will completely take over the department," he said. Kuprevich says his efforts are aimed at increasing safety in the inner campus, which has seen an increase in crime in recent weeks. "When things happen off campus, people don't like it, but they understand these are things which can happen on city streets," he said. "When something happens behind Houston Hall, or by the library, people want to know where the police are." "Our initiative is to safeguard the campus, and to do everything we can, in conjunction with Philadelphia, to make the community safer," he said. "We remain committed to both."