U. Police to add nine new officers

Up to 800 applications expected University Police is looking for a few good men and women. Nine, to be exact. For the first time in three years, the University's employment office is taking applications for patrol officers, senior employment specialist Susan Curran said last night. The search, which began Monday, has already generated about 150 completed applications. And the office expects to get a total of about 600 to 800 applications by the November 30 deadline, staffing and recruitment manager David Barber-Smith said. Although all applications will be considered, applicants with police academy training will be given preference. The University has also made diversity a priority in this year's hiring process. "We've advertised in the [Philadelphia] Inquirer, The Philadelphia Tribune, a paper primarily read by blacks, and the Daily News," he said. Barber-Smith said the office also advertised in a newspaper primarily read by Latinos. "We'd like to assure a diversity in the pool of candidates," he said, "but we're not talking in terms of affirmative action." The biggest challenge has been attracting women, which Barber-Smith says is necessary to build a police department that is representative of the University community. Barber-Smith stressed, however, that qualifications and experience will determine the applicant's positions on the "eligibility list." "What we're doing is building an eligibility list for the next year," Curran said. She added that the University may be able to hire more people off the list, if they feel they more than nine extra officers are needed. University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich, who was out of town and could not be reached for comment, has said that more officers could become necessary if officers are injured while on duty or if patrols are changed. A recent University committee recommended adding five officers to every shift to patrol off campus in West Philadelphia. To add one more officer per shift requires hiring about five new officers, according to Kuprevich. In addition, the University has been negotiating with Drexel University and the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy to create a joint "University City" police department. That would entail extensive hiring.