STAFF EDITORIAL: Helping the victims of crime

It's time for Public Safety to define the role of the Special Services unit and give it the permanent direction in needs. The search for a new director has gone on for entirely too long, and this delay only intensifies our concerns for the department's future. Vice President for Public Safety Thomas Seamon insists that Penn is still looking for the best candidate. But unlike academic searches -- the slowness of which we have criticized in the past -- this process is not encumbered by significant red tape. Other recent Public Safety searches have not taken nearly as long, and we see no reason why a qualified candidate has not yet been appointed. Finding a person to replace Hawkins will only be the first step in restoring public confidence that Public Safety is indeed committed to keeping the Special Services unit functioning and intact. Even before Hawkins' resignation, critics had voiced concerns that the department was being "systematically dismantled" by Public Safety. They point to decreased interaction between Special Services and the administration and the transfer of Special Services investigators to Penn's main detective unit. These trends have not abated. Special Services was founded in the wake of a series of violent attacks on women in the early 1970s. But even as other University offices -- including the Women's Center and the Vice Provost for University Life -- now also provide support to crime victims, Special Services fills a unique niche by coordinating victim support with police investigations. The importance of this role cannot be overlooked. Members of the University community who have seen the toll taken by violent crime trust that Special Services will be there when needed. It is incumbent upon administrators, chiefly Seamon, to then articulate why the search for a new director has taken so long and what Penn's intentions are for the department. It is time for the University and its Division of Public Safety to publicly demonstrate a commitment to Penn's Special Services unit and give it the permanent leadership it requires.