Security kiosk construction to begin

In an effort to improve campus safety, five new security kiosks will be constructed on and off campus and at least 14 new blue-light phones will be installed in the next six weeks at a cost of $225,000, Executive Vice President John Fry said yesterday. This is part of the University's master security plan, which was unveiled by University President Judith Rodin in February. The plan creates a series of "Community Walks" which will run through the center of campus and along heavily traveled off-campus streets. The five security kiosks and new blue-light phones will be strategically located along the walkways. University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said kiosk installation will begin within the next two weeks and will take an additional four weeks to complete. The kiosks will be manned seven days a week by Allied Security guards between 3 p.m. and 5 a.m and have a blue-light phone mounted on the side. Kuprevich added that the walking Allied guard patrols -- which began on February 22 -- will be discontinued after the kiosks are installed. But he said the guards will periodically leave the kiosks to patrol the Community Walks. Kuprevich also said that University Police officers, who were redeployed to focus more on the perimeter of the Community Walks, may see further changes to their patrols. Kuprevich said the Allied guards will serve as additional "eyes and ears" only, and will not replace University Police officers. "[University Police officers] are still responsible for primary policing," he said. "Their jobs have not changed, while their deployment capabilities have improved." Since the Allied guard patrols started, Kuprevich said there has been a noticeable "difference in the number of instances, specifically crimes against person on campus and in the nearby community." He added that he expected the kiosk and phone project to continue reducing the crime level on campus. Fry said he plans to evaluate the latest project at first on a monthly and then on a quarterly basis, by comparing the level of crime before and after the creation of the Community Walks. "The key here is to reduce the amounts of incidents," he added. "Benchmarks of existing incidents will be matched with performance goals and then we will do a gap analysis." According to Stephen Schutt, Rodin's chief of staff, the master security plan was well received by an independent consulting team that viewed the plan last month. Schutt said three of the advisors, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Tucker, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Terry Schumard and Secret Service agent Ernie Kun, are "particularly enthusiastic about the initiatives." "[The consulting team] encouraged us to do what we are doing and that is to get this done as quickly as possible," he said. "They think it is a very forward looking program and it is ahead of the curve." Schutt added that the consultants will return to campus in the "near future" to provide further suggestions and comments. The Community Walks are Locust Street between 33rd and 43rd streets, 36th Street between Chestnut Street and the Nursing Education Building and Walnut, Spruce and Pine streets from 39th to 43rd streets.

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