U. Police to stay put on patrols

University Police have changed the way they patrol campus in the hope that it will make students feel more secure and reduce crime. But many officers feel the changes will increase crime and harm students. The patrol's new emphasis will be on the inner campus, where there is already the least crime, University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said yesterday. "Before this department can do anything to confront crime, we have to make sure that our own backyard is as safe as we can make it," Kuprevich said. "I think that somewhere along the line, the implementation of department policies took the emphasis off primarily protecting the campus." Foot patrol officers will now be placed at fixed locations around campus. For example, an officer will be permanently placed at 37th Street and Locust Walk and another will be in Superblock. Patrol officers will not leave the immediate vicinity of their posts, even in the event of a nearby crime. Bicycle patrols and cars will respond to crimes instead. "When we looked at our foot patrols, we decided to try a new strategy," Kuprevich said. "When they go out on their beat, they should take a look around, then go to a defined location that has high visibility." The hope is that if students know set locations that are regularly patrolled, then they will feel safe walking there, Kuprevich said. "Students will know a route where they expect there will be someone, that consistently, they know there will be someone along that walkway that is watching," he said. University Police officer Bill Kane, president of the University's chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he disagrees with the changes Kuprevich has made. "[Criminals will] go to Walnut or Samson [streets]," Kane said. "It won't make a difference if they are standing on stationary posts." "You can have one safe avenue through the campus, but they'll [the students] take Walnut and Spruce [too], particularly now that they can't ride their bikes down Locust Walk," he added. Kane added that he thinks the new patrols will lower morale. "It really kills the morale of the officers. A lot were down because of the discipline handed down from the DP incident and from being understaffed, and other non-support from the community, and now to have this dumped on us," Kane said. "This is not the way to get off on the school year." Kane said there has been an increase in crime, which he attributed to being "short staffed for months." He also said he thinks other initiatives undertaken by University Police have not worked. "We have mini-stations at 34th and Walnut and 40th and Walnut, and we've had robberies right in front of both," he said. Police officers also said that while there may be a perception of safety on campus, in reality police are being taken away from heavier crime areas bordering campus, where many students, faculty and staff members live. "What happens when you go off Locust Walk?" said one police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Ninety percent of the crime happens off Locust Walk." "For the students that live between 40th and 43rd streets, crime is going to go up," he said. "The students are going to have to pay." Another officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said he disagrees with the changes. "If you want to see crime go up, keep the cops on Locust Walk," he said.