Officials seek safety solutions

University officials said last night The Daily Pennsylvanian's discovery of five McGinn Security Service guards asleep at their posts compounds the need for major changes in the organization and institution of safety and security measures on campus. And acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum added that her proposal of integrating the many agencies which currently control campus safety and security is a step in the right direction. The proposal, which was announced yesterday, also calls for integration of departments which control mail service and residential maintenance. Currently, University Police, Residential Security and several other security firms are responsible for the various aspects of security on campus. "I think there needs to be one agent," McCoullum said. "One agent decreases redundancy and increases efficiency and maximizes accountability. "But it is not enough to have the one agent unless that agency has the resources allocated to do the best job," she added. Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said she is in favor of McCoullum's proposal, and suggested that the University Police department be the main organization in charge of campus safety and security. "I think it would make sense for campus security to be under the supervision of campus security experts," she said. "We would have confidence in Public Safety for the supervision of security in the residences." But University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said the proposal would not solve every problem "overnight." "I don't think that integrating [the agencies] will make everything disappear and that we'd never have a security official fall asleep," he said. "I cannot guarantee that, and neither can anyone else." Kuprevich did say that the existence of multiple departments "lessons the effectiveness overall for the security of the campus." In addition to McCoullum's proposal, several task forces have been developed to examine the problems and possible solutions of campus safety. One is the Security Task Force, a group Kuprevich is working with to create a report primarily focusing on the University security situation. "We're trying to come up with the right model to integrate security, technology and the police department," he said. "It would add value to the level of security on this campus." Kuprevich said the task force is finishing the final draft of the report, but said he did not know when it would be completed. Executive Vice President Janet Hale said Monday night that "several studies have been going on" dealing with campus security. "I think we have to look at each structure and determine who can best perform it and how it can best be performed," she said. "I need to look at the business and administrative functions [of it]." The changes which McCoullum advocates might remove safety and security issues from Residential Living's jurisdiction. But Simeone says she is not disturbed by the possibility of this removal. "Residential Living is a huge department with many, many responsibilities," she said. "We have over 3,000 activities every year and we respond to the concerns of 6,500 students. "If security were to go to Public Safety, we would not see that as diminishing our important role and function on campus," Simeone added. McCoullum said that the top priority is "providing exemplary service," and not who is controlling those services. "Nobody who cares about students should be concerned about where and who is responsible," she said. "I think that everything should be reviewed and every possibility should be explored without fear of anything." Kuprevich said there are other issues which he has to consider. "You have to build a structure that helps keep [the guards] attentive to the job, awake, while giving them guidance," he said. "There has to be a chance for career growth and place more value on [the job] while giving it a higher level of respect. "If it's not treated as important, [the employees] won't act as though it's important," he added. McCoullum said the newest situation with the McGinn guards sleeping on duty is a "tragic affirmation of the fundamental necessity for this university to make fundamental changes in the way we organize?key institutional priorities."