NEW ANALYSIS: U. Police reevaluate safety plan

Administrators have dedicated more resources to off-campus areas since this year's string of crimes began. When administrators rolled out new security initiatives last month after the shooting of College senior Patrick Leroy, many students wondered why officials had waited so long before taking action. Since then, Public Safety and other departments have moved forward with new plans to address specific safety concerns and respond to additional incidents. After the shooting and more than 30 armed robberies near campus in September, Public Safety redirected its efforts to improve security in off-campus areas. The University hired 10 Spectaguards at the beginning of October to conduct highly visible foot patrols in the area west of 40th Street and added three more guards to the group after the recent murder of Biophysics and Biomedical researcher Vladimir Sled. Over Homecoming weekend, Public Safety deployed a temporary team of seven Spectaguards to patrol east of 40th Street. Public Safety Director Thomas Seamon said that effort was so well-received he decided to hire another group of guards to patrol the area permanently. Security Director Chris Algard said a team of five to seven Spectaguards will begin patrolling east of 40th Street by the end of next week. The first 10 Spectaguards cost the University $400,000 a year. And while officials will not say how much the additional guards cost, Algard said last week their price would be comparable. At roughly $40,000 a year per guard, the Spectaguard details could cost between $720,000 and $800,000 per year. The new security guards and a recent reorganization of University Police patrols to put focus on areas with higher crime rates and more student activity signal the University's attempt to place a greater emphasis on interactive policing. Seamon foreshadowed that strategy last fall when he announced that security guards would patrol their areas by foot rather than sit inside the five security kiosks around campus. In an effort to resolve confusion and redirect University Police efforts, Seamon ordered three of the kiosks removed earlier this week. Public Safety has also boosted its efforts to improve conditions on 40th Street, which forms the border between campus and the off-campus area where many students live. Leroy was shot at 40th and Locust streets. The University has an even greater stake in that area, since the Dental School is located on 40th Street and a University-owned shopping mall anchors 40th Street between Locust and Walnut streets. Seamon recently told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the crime rate rises with every block west of 40th Street, making the street's safety an important benchmark of off-campus safety. University Police plan to move the Special Services unit to an empty storefront on 40th Street between Burger King and Smokey Joe's Tavern. The storefront will have two separate entrances, with one side devoted to the Special Services unit, Chief of Police Operations Maureen Rush said. The other side will include space for University Police bike patrol officers and Philadelphia Police officers patrolling in the area. And a new 40th Street Action Team, co-chaired by Rush, is focusing on improving lighting and removing all graffiti and chronic trash problems along the 40th Street corridor. To further improve security off-campus, the University purchased a set of buildings on the 4000 block of Chestnut Street last month to house the entire Public Safety division. Seamon said he expects the department to move within a year. Seamon, a former deputy Philadelphia Police commissioner, said he hopes to include space in the new Public Safety headquarters for a Philadelphia Police mini-station. But he said he cannot make an offer to Philadelphia Police until plans for the new building are complete. While working to improve safety in off-campus areas, Public Safety is also implementing a $3 million contract with Sensormatic Electronics Corporation for the installation of new security technology in University residences and buildings. Although the deal had been negotiated for a year, and administrators have made it a key to their long-term safety planning, University officials announced the Sensormatic contract shortly after Leroy's shooting. That led many students to believe administrators were developing their residential security plans in response to outrage over the shooting and robberies. But the initiative addresses on-campus crime, not the series of off-campus incidents earlier this year. There were 137 major crimes in University residences in 1995 and 120 such incidents in residences so far this year, University Police Lt. Joseph Weaver said. Major crimes include homicides, rapes, aggravated assaults, burglaries and robberies. Algard has said the new technology will allow the University to use fewer security guards in buildings and residences over the long term, allowing them to be part of the foot patrol. University President Judith Rodin also committed to spending more money to hire 19 new police officers. A recent report by the Fraternal Order of Police said only about 50 University Police officers are assigned to active patrol beats. Several officers said only six University Police officers were on patrol when Leroy was shot. The newly hired officers would substantially increase the number of officers patrolling the University Police jurisdiction. Seamon noted that Philadelphia Police interviewed 100 applicants for every officer they hired.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.