UNIVERSITY
OPS emphasizes common
sense as the key to safety
By Kirsten Lucas
Emerald Contributor
The first thing that comes to
many students' minds when
they think of the Office of Pub
lic Safety is parking tickets
However, campus crime pre
vention officer Suzie Hunter
likes to think of OPS as the
University's "kinder and gent
ler police department
OPS. formed in the early
1970s, is in charge of campus
crime prevention, bicycle regis
tration, keys and locks, occupa
tional safety, environmental
health and parking enforce
ment. Its jurisdiction encom
passes the entire University
campus and outlying Universi
ty property.
Students may not realize the
diversity of OPS's responsibili
ties until they find themselves
in trouble.
"We ll let you in if you've
locked yourself out of your of
fice," Hunter said. "We’ll
come out and jump start your
car. We'll rescue you if you're
stranded on campus. Those are
the types of services you're not
going to get out of a police de
partment because they don't
have the time.''
OPS employs 1 5 profes
sionally-trained campus securi
ty officers and two supervisors,
who are armed only with flash
lights. ke\ s, handcuffs and ru
dios It also contrai ts with the
Kugene Police Department for
five armed officers and a ser
geant who assist public safety
officers with law enforcement
In addition to these profes
sionals. University Housing
employs student security pa
trols. supervised by OPS These
students patrol the dorm areas
in pairs, acting as extra eyes
and ears for OPS The student
patrols primarily look out for
out parties and doors propped
open — the latter pose a partic
ular security hazard in the resi
dence halls.
OPS supervisor Boh Brown,
who has been at the University
since 1980. finds the people he
encounters on his patrols to he
cooperative unless, of course,
they're up to no good. He is
taken seriously by those in
need of assistance, who. ini i
dentally, make up the majority
of his contacts However.
"when it (unit's to law enforce
ment," he said, "students
sometimes doubt my authori
ty."
When he approac lies some
one behaving suspii inuslv. he
relies on his own presence ami
"the color of authority" his
uniform to get people to tol
low his instructions And don't
think because he’s not armed
and dressed in blue he won't
arrest you.
Students should know that
all public laws apply on cam
pus Conversely, students
should not assume a false sense
of security here Student status
does not exempt anyone from
( rime or punishment
"The attitude that a lot of
kids have when they get here is
that Tin here and the laws of
the outside world apply to the
outside world and not necessar
ily to me because ... I'm where
the long arm of the law can't
reach me,' and that’s not true,"
I lunter said
Hunter said she has noticed
that students have become in
creasingly confrontational to
ward OPS officers recently "In
till' last five years," she said,"1
have noticed a change in stu
dents and how blatant they are
with some of the (illegal) things
that they do '
She cited this type of behav
ior as the cause of riots that oc
( urred near the University in
the past two years, and said she
ex pec ts similar incidents to oc
cur in the future as long as had
feelings persist between stu
dents and authorities
Brown said, "I would like to
see a better rapport with stu
dents.''
According to KPD statistics,
theft and alcohol-related viola
tions are currently the most fre
quentlv committed crimes in
the University vicinity While
theft has risen steadily, alco
hol-related violations have in
creased dramatically over re
cent years. These violations in
clude minor in possession of al
cohol. minor on restricted
premises, public drinking and
intoxication
During the l‘)8tl ill) school
year, t>;t7 alcohol related
crimes and 471 thefts were re
ported m the University area
Of the thefts. 130 were of bu y
Turn to SAFETY, Page 10
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