University of South Carolina Libraries
Campi By Stephen Rkldell itUHUI (Reprinted from June 25 H issue) H Sixteen of 28 recommendations made to USC President James B. Holderman by a special committee investigating campus security were based on inaccurate information, said two university officials. The committee began its ^ investigation in FeDruary |g and submitted its report to : the president May 1. Holderman withheld the fjj report for six weeks while he | reviewed the committee's f recommendations. George Key, director of m Campus Safety Security, and :M USC Campus Police Chief Marvin Harrelson said the H report was based on in correct information. "I don't ^ see how and why the in' telligent professionals on the || committee came up with IS such farfetched data and M with information that is so 7 don't see how teUiaBnt nrnfessini I mittee came up wi j| data...' || opposite from the real situation," Key said. "Many of our officers who were in contact with the .... - committee naa the feeling that the findings of this committee were a foregone conclusion," Key said. "The committee had three months to make an in-depth investigation, but they spent very little time down here looking at our operation. We offered to let them ride with police officers on patrol and to let them look at our whole * ... . j arrangement, dui most 01 them didn't do it." I I feel like our input into the report was practically nil," Key said. "The committee did not take advantage of the opportunities we offered them to take a tozi> /VIAtlN 31. t \ Serving USC studei I BREAKFAS Buffet i 11 a.m.-9 p. I "delicious or try one of ou I Tl^i. Ij IVICdl I ILH DOWNS under 2 for 1 I from 1 -2 great sandi Open 1 1 is policc close look at our system. We didn't havp a rhanoe to even discuss things with them." KEY AND HARRELSON said the arrest statistics and clearance rates reported were incomplete. "A lot of crimes occur on campus that -were not used in computing their statistics," Harrelson said. "If they included all the crimes that occurred on campus, we would have come out with about a 1C percent clearance by arrest percentage." From October 197$ through March 1980, campus police statistics show 961 crimes. Campus police arrested 91 suspects during that period for a 9.4 percent clearance by arrest rate. Overall, 193 cases were cleared for a total clearance rate of 20 percent. On the issue of officer training, Harrelson said all and why the innate on the comth such farfetched -George Key but two of the campus police officers had graduated from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy. The committee had reported that more than nan 01 uie torce naa not naa the benefit of standardized formal law enforcement training." "I don't know where they got their figures," Harrelson said. "The law passed in 1972 required all new officers to undergo training so I guess the committee just checked the files on when our officers were hired and assumed that if they were hired before that date that they had not undergone the training. "What they didn't know was that we were sending our officers over to the Criminal Justice Academy way back in 1968 before that law even existed," Harrelson said. THE BIG BIRD '71-4455 | its for over 1 5 years T 7-10:30 a.m. 1 Line upen m. continuously home cooking" ir super sandwiches ;ets Available I : rAIRS PLAZA the Big Bird lappy Hour crnrl K..R Hoilw mi iu kj \jr uuny wiches available a.m. to 1 a.m. ?deny 'f Key said 41 percent of the people surveyed were dissatisfied with campus police because of the ages of the police. "They don't understand that we had to build this force up from nothing when we started in 1968," Harrelson said. "We attracted high-quality individuals with experience that were in the 38 to 42 age bracket. These men have served as dedicated police officers at USC for a long time." HARRELSON SAID the university hired many young officers during the past few years. "We have a high turnover of young officers because the pay scale is so low," he said. "There is no question that the poor oav makes them leave." More than 35 percent of the crimes on campus occur in' residence halls, Key said. "These crimes include unlocked room situations and roommates stealing from roommates," he said. "Campus police do not patrol in the residence halls, so it is hard to deter this kind of crime," he said. "For example," Harrelson said, "take a case where a student leaves a $20 bill on his desk in his dorm room. Someone comes in and steals it while he is in taking a shower. There is virtually no way that we can clear that crime." Harrelson said the officers help the students whenever possible. "If a student is drunk outside a residence hall and is bordering or disorderly conduct, the tendency would be for the ~ kn?L umcci IU cacui i mm uav,r into the residence hall,' Harrelson said. "We coulc have the officer make ar arrest and pick-up an easj clearance, but then you hav< a numbers game. We don'i Your new clo Which is wh\ available and filtei Sure, we cou cleaning bill. But \ t frN** f r /^1 mun^Y i<->i new w,i 1908 BLOSSOM STREET ar fetch want to have to play a numbers game." ONE CAMPUS POLICE officer reacted to the security report by saying. "The overall attitude of the department is 'if thev wan1 ( | ' VK ;^Hl:-v > ^I^Q^BjnOB^g * 'i'. ^|H^TC^h _.%r // DUTCH SQUARE Shv parkja' ' Mar I r^?ox 1 sj m s&jKjjj thes get to be old clot r, at Master Cleaners, > our cleaning solutior Id cut a few comers a I ? ? C. ? < 4 A/ere old tashionea en othes, they shouldn't j I 7000 l?ARNLRS HiRKY ROAD / 1<>1S BMJ ed' criti arrests, they'll get arrests instead of us turning students over to their deans for disciplinary action," a practice used for minor offenses. "We have had a crimp prevention program for four OH AIL REGULARI PRICED 100% m Jteilr, , LEOTARDS & Tit * Here's one corr cutting. The later Premiere bodys' 4 Just clip out ttw see what we'v You won't' c r nlng to )u? gymnastics JPPING CENTER ne hosi? ne tO*e ^ a AI k hes in a hurry, that's vi A/e use only the freshe ts continually, nd maybe save you a ough to believe that w get old before their tirr BCXJ1JVARI) cism years," Key ssid. "The lack of support by the university of this program, however, is appalling. The only thing that will help is a crime prevention program that has the complete support of the entire university " ** ? OO^^g \0- I it tOn Jits are alreai., 4 coupon and come e got to otter. B And a better begin- m .eason's dance and M classes anywhere. B 11^ rhat. st and best solvents few bucks on your hen you pay good le. dm,) NERS 8.IAUNDRY J I A r(VWR ^