New policy would broaden U. Police power

The change is aimed at helping crime victims and boosting efficiency. In an attempt to provide better service to the University community and investigate crimes more efficiently, Division of Public Safety officials are preparing to radically change the way crimes in University City are investigated and catalogued. Under a proposed new set of arrest protocols, anything that happens on campus or involves University students, faculty and staff members in the University Police patrol area -- from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street -- will be handled by University Police, from the moment of the crime until the suspect's arraignment. In the past, the Philadelphia Police Department has technically been in charge of every criminal investigation, though University Police have a squadron of eight detectives that investigate and solve crimes on their own. The changes mean less duplication of effort between the two departments, less hassle for University-affiliated victims of crimes and greater self-sufficiency for Public Safety. "We understand the University better, we understand the students better," Vice President for Public Safety Thomas Seamon said last week. "We can give more specialized service." And Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney said through a spokesperson that the new procedures will "improve the operation and efficiency" of both University and Philadelphia police. Seamon said he expects to hammer out an agreement with the city within the next two months. Preliminary estimates suggest the cost of implementing the new protocols will be around $50,000, officials said. That's a small fraction of Public Safety's annual budget, which last year was about $10 million. The plan makes sense for the University, officials said, because the PPD's 18th District, which encompasses a swath of West Philadelphia from the Schuylkill to Cobbs Creek, is overburdened with crimes usually more serious than what occurs on or near campus. "Oftentimes [Philadelphia Police are] not able to spend as much time as we are investigating these kinds of things," because they have so much else to worry about, University Police Det. Commander Tom King said. For instance, last winter several University vending machines were burglarized by what police called a "career thief," said Penn Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush. Compared to the violent crimes that the PPD must often deal with, the rash of thefts was relatively minor. But it was "a very important issue to us," Rush said, because it's the type of quality-of-life crime that makes people think University City is unsafe. Currently, University Police officials have to go through the PPD to obtain an arrest warrant and, when a suspect is apprehended, University Police must take them to the PPD station for booking and questioning. Victims must also trek down to the 18th District office at 55th and Pine streets to give interviews to Philadelphia detectives. University Police, meanwhile, would conduct their own investigation. If the new procedures are agreed upon, as expected, PPD detectives will not investigate crimes in University Police jurisdiction unless asked to do so. Penn officials will be able to get arrest warrants and book suspects at the new Public Safety headquarters at 4040 Chestnut Street. Once a suspect is booked, they will be held in a temporary holding cell inside the Public Safety office. Then they'll be taken to the Police Detention Unit at 8th and Race streets for arraignment, which is when a judge reads the charges to the suspect and sets bail. Seamon said the suspect's time in the holding cell will be short. "We don't want to be a jail," he said. One potential downside, though, is that much of the built-in cooperation and communication between University Police -- the state's biggest private police force -- and the city department would be eliminated. King said Penn officials were "cognizant" of that potential liability and will work to make sure it doesn't create a problem. "It's important to take steps to ensure that we don't lose that liaison" with the city, King said. "And I don't think we will." He said Penn has always had excellent relations with its Philadelphia counterparts, and that it will continue to rely on them to patrol the area and to provide information tying University City crime to the greater West Philadelphia area. There will also be some instances, Seamon said, where University Police "won't want to handle [a case] alone," and will request the city department's help. Public Safety will spend most of the $50,000 on three machines: a two-computer Preliminary Arraignment System, which transmits data about the suspect and the crime for use in the arraignment; a photoimaging machine for taking mug shots and showing photographs of potential suspects to victims; and a device that electronically reads suspects' fingers and stores images of the fingerprints.