Public Safety reassigns Special Services liaison

For most people, being transferred from working a day shift to the nighttime "graveyard shift" means completely overhauling their sleep schedule. But for several community town watch organizations, the Division of Public Safety's reassignment of University Police Lt. Sue Holmes -- from Special Services to Police Operations -- means losing a trusted liaison who provided key support for their groups over the past few years. Beginning Monday, Holmes, who has 14 years of experience with Public Safety, will supervise the University Police's 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift instead of working regular daytime hours in Special Services. "She provided a lot of administrative backup for these town watch groups that are essentially volunteer groups," Special Services Director Susan Hawkins said. "I understand they're upset over losing an individual that they're very connected to and has been very helpful to them." Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush explained that the night shift has not had a supervisor since she was promoted from Special Services director one year ago. In the meantime, Capt. John Richardson has worked erratic hours -- 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. instead of 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- to cover part of the night shift. "The game plan was always to have a shift commander on the midnight shift that could communicate with me on a regular basis," Rush said, adding that Holmes' seniority places her squarely in line for the supervisor position. Town watch organizations, however, are questioning the University's commitment to the surrounding community and the motive behind the reassignment. West Philadelphia resident and community leader Barbara Brown said Public Safety officials implied they were going to weaken support for the surrounding community at a recent meeting with town watch groups. "I put forth some pretty rough questions to them," said Brown, whose Diamond Town Watch group covers the Wynnefield section northwest of campus. "Their main focus was, 'the University this, the University that, we have to protect the University'." Brown added that the loss of Holmes has devastated morale among town watch groups. "So many people want to get out of it now," she said. But Public Safety officials noted that the department will continue to maintain contact with the groups through multiple University liaisons such as Greg Montanaro, who works in the executive vice president's office, and Hawkins herself. Hawkins, who has acted as Special Services director since December 13, noted she is currently devising a plan for the University's interaction with the town watch groups. "A bridge between Penn and the community is absolutely vital, but that bridge has to consist of more than one person," Hawkins said. She noted that the city "has primary responsibility for funding those town watch groups and providing them with radios and things like that," adding that the groups "feel like they haven't gotten as much support as they'd like from the city, so they look to the University." And evidently, the groups relied on Holmes to assist them with regular operations. "Sue was doing such a wonderful job that it was hard to see why they'd want to replace her," said West Philadelphia resident Marty Cabry, a Clark Park West Town Watch volunteer. "[Holmes] did a tremendous amount, frankly on her own time, that was not something she was directed to do," Hawkins said. "She's very dedicated to this community and took a lot of initiative in doing that." Holmes declined to comment on the reasons for her reassignment, saying only that her status as an A-1 University employee -- essentially an administrator -- allows her to work any hours of the day.