Campus Safety Criticized
By Conor O'Rourke
Staff Writer

Amidst the flashy tube tops and high-cut skirts coloring the weekend party scene stand the darkened sentinels of Pomona college: Campus Safety. Dressed all in black, from heavy duty work boots on their feet, to sleek bike helmets atop their heads, their role at parties is obvious from their appearance. However, the professionalism of the campus forces in this role has recently come under criticism by students lately.

"The central problem with most of the Campus Safety officers, is that they get on a power trip, which impedes them from doing their job effectively," said CCLA chair Sara Sherrod '03. Many of the officers that work at parties are auxiliary staff that do not have the same training or experience as full-time officers. Some of these part-time officers are younger than the students they are policing. Sherrod cites an example of one officer who began work at the colleges at 18 as a recent graduate of Claremont High School. "Personally, I don't think it's appropriate for a high school student to be given the authority to supervise college students," said Sherrod.

Pomona is considering training some of their own students as hosts to replace Campus Safety officers. "It would be an effort to give students the opportunity to have small parties under similar conditions, except now it would be legal," said Dean of Students Ann Quinley of the student host program instituted under the proposed new Alcohol Policy.

According to college policy Campus Safety officers are required whenever there is an event with alcohol. In addition, Campus Safety officers are present when there is an event expecting a very large crowd or if a non-alcoholic event is advertised to the public. Associate Dean of the Campus Center David Swenson typically meets with event organizers to determine how many officers are needed based on projected estimates of attendance, past performance of the program and sponsor, and other activities being held at the same time.

The cost of Campus Safety continues to concern college administration. Because of their role at student events, these costs are met by student fees. ASPC calls this their "security fund" and this year it totaled over $20,000. Campus Safety's role at campus events includes checking for five-college IDs, assisting with crowd control, restricting access and egress as needed, and providing a deterrence for unwanted activity. "They are trained professionals who can assist in emergency situations. However, they are perhaps not always as effective as we would like them to be," said ASPC President Phil Kopcyzinski '03. Sherrod recalls this year's Smiley '80s party. "It's probably one of the times all year when we need [Campus Safety's] assistance most. Yet instead of helping us make sure no one was getting in without bracelets, or preventing students from trampling the table, all of the [Campus Safety] officers teamed up on one student because he had earlier pushed one of them. In my opinion, that is not their intended purpose at an event like Smiley '80s," said Sherrod.

However, Sherrod quickly added that these issues tend to involve a few specific officers. "There are also several officers who I think not only do a good job, but who are very nice people that I enjoy socializing with at parties." Anjuli Mahendra '03 recalled a story from her sophomore year when Campus Safety officers responded to an intrusion alarm at Pendleton Pool set off by Mahendra and her friends. "They told us to get out of the pool, but then gave us a ride back to our dorm rooms and were joking around with us the whole time," said Mahendra.

While Pomona seeks to control the costs and students question Campus Safety's level of professionalism, the reality of policing the campus is often lost in the shuffle of criticism. "I have to have sympathy for someone whose job is to manage drunk people at a party. It's got to be hard," said Quinley.