Public Safety to reevaluate security kiosks

Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon said the University is still ironing out the function of the security kiosks. When University President Judith Rodin first unveiled her new safety plan last semester, she said the kiosks would be manned until 5 a.m. But now the kiosks are only staffed throughout the day, serving primarily as "information booths," according to Public Safety Security Director Chris Algard. At night, roving Allied Guards use the kiosks to fill out reports and as shelter during inclement weather. "We are going to continue to change," Seamon said. "When we see one method is better than another, we will change in a minute." At a Panhellenic Council meeting last week, sorority sisters expressed serious concerns for their safety, complaining that there are not enough off-campus blue-light phones and criticizing the effectiveness of the security kiosks. "The central idea was to get more guards out," Seamon said. "In some respects I don't understand the fuss." He said that although there are no guards in the kiosks at night, they are still walking their beat in the vicinity. Seamon added that Public Safety has been busy trying to improve its system, striving to obtain what he called "the optimal results for the resources we are spending." As an analogy, he traced the evolution of police patrols, which have gone from foot to car to bicycle patrols. Each step was a response to a specific need, he explained. Seamon said that walking guards are more effective because they can work to prevent crimes about to happen, and that their presence can act as a deterrent. He said that Public Safety is considering moving some of the five kiosks to University parking lots, which have been sites of numerous crimes this semester. That effort will involve studying the role the kiosk at 36th and Sansom streets has had in preventing incidents at that lot. To prevent future crime in the lots, he said his department is working on instituting regular police patrols of the area. Other technological security measures, like closed circuit TV monitors, are also being examined. Seamon said he is pleased with the progress the University is making in improving safety. "Coming from the outside, I thought the University was well on its way to a comprehensive security program," he said. According to Executive Vice President John Fry, the administration is confident in Seamon's ability to improve security on campus. "I felt he was the best in the business when it comes to thinking about these things strategically," Fry said. "He brings to the table the ability to take these concepts to the next level." He said that he welcomes any improvements Seamon can make to the existing security plan. "The way we view planning is that if their additional benefits, we won't keep things static," he said. Fry said that he is pleased with improvements to campus security, and anticipates future success. "We are pushing very hard to be state of the art," he said. Seamon said that he has supported Rodin's Community Walks plan, which was announced last semester. The University's transportation system, its efforts to increase the number of blue-light phones, and work being done to control access to buildings are also among his list of improvements he anticipates in the future. But Seamon was careful to state that maintaining security at an urban university is a continual process that is never completed, and that problems can only be made fewer, and not eliminated. "As we change, the bad guys change," he said. "We have to innovate."

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