Thursday
Editor in chief: jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Commissioning DPS officers
means commissioning risks
In the past week,
Tom Fitzpatrick,
director of the
University’s De
partment of Public
Safety, has been
meeting with cam
pus groups and the
media to an
nounce that DPS
will commission
as many as 11 of
its officers by
April 1.
For those
who haven’t
heard, com
missioned
officers
would have
the legal
right to
stop and,
frisk peo
ple sus
pected
of ille
gal ac
tivity
and to
make
probable
cause ar
il rests. The edi
torial board met
with Fitzpatrick to discuss the
implications of this decision, and
we still believe commissioning of
ficers is unnecessary and runs the
risk of creating further friction be
tween students and the officers
charged with protecting them.
Giving police powers to individu
als-who are not police, on its face,
seems a little scary.- There are ques
tions of safety and responsible con
duct for everyone involved. Fitz
patrick did offer some rationale for
the change, and perhaps it can be
weighed against the risks to see if
the change holds value.
Most upsetting to us, however,
is the complete lack of input and
consideration.from the students.
The last time we checked, stu
dents pay a good portion of the
money that keeps this school,
and DPS, operating. Students
are the ones whose safety needs
protecting. Why did no one ask
what the students thought?
Granting our concerns, we
would encourage the entire cam
pus community to adopt a cau
tious wait-and-see policy. Ex
treme anger and strident protest
are out of balance with the cir
cumstances. But Fitzpatrick and
other University administrators
did not handle this decision in the
best way.
Our first concern lies with the qual
ifications of DPS officers. These offi
cers receive a shortened version of train
ing which is similar to that given to the
Oregon State Police and the Eugene Po
lice Department, but it’s not the same.
Fitzpatrick said that officers will be eval
uated at length before they are commis
sioned, and they will receive additional
graining from the district attorney’s office
and, before July 1, from EPD. That train
ing still does not make a police officer.
We’re sure there are good personnel at
DPS, but they shouldn’t be granted police
powers.
One of Fitzpatrick’s rationales for the
commissioning, according to his press re
lease, is that it will better protect the offi
cers, “who are oftentimes placed in jeop
ardy due to their inability to take
enforcement action, pending the arrival
of Eugene police and the potential escala
tion of the situation being dealt with.”
In person, Fitzpatrick told us that in
stead of making a citizen’s arrest, which
is all officers are currently allowed, they
will now be able to handcuff a suspect.
Are we to believe that it is somehow safer
for an unarmed officer to attempt to phys
ically contact and handcuff a suspect?
What if the suspect resists? Aren’t un
armed DPS officers potentially at greater
risk with these new powers?
Safety concerns make us think that in
the not-too-distant future, arming DPS of
ficers will be a consideration. Currently,
this is prohibited by Oregon law. Fitz
patrick’s press release says, “Research in
dicates that Oregon is the only state na
tionally that presently does not afford its
public institutions of higher education
the authority to grant full peace officer
status.”
That sounds like the beginning of a fu
ture argument for arming officers, espe
cially if they are in situations where mak
ing an arrest compromises their safety.
Enhancing students’ safety was cer
tainly the main thrust of Fitzpatrick’s dis
cussion with the Emerald board, even
though crime statistics show our campus
is very safe, and violent crimes have fall
en to nearly none in recent years.
DPS officers with these new powers
will be able to follow up on thefts that
EPD simply cannot pursue, giving stu
dents better protection. DPS officers can
investigate a stolen backpack, build a
case against a suspect, arrest that student
and follow through to the district attor
ney’s office and into the courtroom, ac
cording to Fitzpatrick.
But we don’t believe the district attor
ney will be rushing to prosecute every in
cidence of thievery. Even if a case is built,
we all know that a stolen bike gets moved
out of the neighborhood and repainted
very quickly. Few people are likely to see
this increased service level.
Our biggest objection to this change is
the lack of outside input. Fitzpatrick said
this was an administrative decision, and
“administrators are employed to admin
istrate.”
He also emphasized that students can’t
vote on everything. They certainly can
not, but for a decision of this magnitude,
with the recent history of University
President Dave Frohnmayer’s unilateral
decision on the Fair Labor Association,
wouldn’t it have been both wise and po
lite to hold a well-publicized open forum
where students could come and have
their questions answered and have their
concerns heard? The same decision
could then have been made, but the per
ception toward DPS and the sense of
community on campus would have im
proved.
We would like to ask both Frohnmayer
and Fitzpatrick to meet with the commu
nity in 170 Lawrence in an open forum
and let the campus have an opportunity
to speak. Listen to students’ concerns and
answer their questions. There are a few
questions we still have about this deci
sion, and perhaps these could be an
swered at such a forum.
First, how would the commissioning
be funded? Will the officers be paid more,
how much will the training cost, and
where will this money come from?
Second, has commissioning worked
well on other Oregon campuses? The oth
er campuses are in different environ
ments than ours. Were their crime rates
higher or lower than our own, and what
effect has commissioning had on those
rates?
Lastly, will this change possibly save
.money; i.e., is it a more efficient use of
campus and city resources?
Now that we’ve had our say, we think
everyone should take a deep breath and
think about these changes before react
ing.
Fitzpatrick told us that the phrase
“racial profiling” has already been men
tioned to him in relation to the officers’
right to stop and frisk. We think that’s go
ing a bit far. Perhaps we should accept
that everyone is not inherently racist and
classist. Fitzpatrick assured us that his of
ficers will respond to the situation and
not to the individual, and we have no rea
son to distrust him.
DPS is also setting up a Public Safety
Advisory Group to review complaints or
commendations of officers, and that
board can be expected to deal with profil
ing issues, should any arise.
Overall, the commissioning seems un
necessary and definitely lacks student in
put. But perhaps DPS can use these pow
' ers responsibly; perhaps they can rise to
the occasion and offer more effective
services to the campus. Let’s give them
the chance.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emer
ald editorial board. Responses can be sent to
ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the editor
River deserves our sacrifices
The Willamette River cannot be res
urrected without sacrifices by all of us.
When Vice Provost for Research
Richard Linton (“Frohnmayer advises
of planned tuition hike,” ODE, Jan. 11)
said that “it was in the best interest of
the University to leave all options
open in regard to the research park,”
he raised a hammer that can drive one
more nail into the river’s coffin.
Franklin W. Stahl
professor emeritus
molecular biology