By Matthew Bisanz
I was concerned to see last week’s article about the lack of visibility of safety lights on campus. I know that from my dorm’s parking lot I can’t see a single blue light or call box. Call boxes next to manned security booths really don’t do anything, as one assumes a person in a booth will at least call the Public Safety emergency number if someone were to run up screaming and pounding the glass.
What concerns me even more is the lack of guards in the entry booths after 9:30 p.m. I have late classes and frequently go out to eat afterwards. Many nights, I come home at midnight, and there is no guard in the Oak Street booth. The gate is up, the booth is dark and anyone could enter campus unannounced. Just this Sunday, I came back at 11:30 p.m. and there was no one in the main booth or the Oak Street booth. Granted, people can still sneak onto campus in cars or over the fence, but by requiring people to card into campus, it at least reduces the number of people with no connection to the University who might wander into campus.
I know Public Safety is stretched thin with patrols on campus, keying in, etc., but they can at least put one of the blue-shirted students in the booth. In fact, I’m surprised that regular public safety officers are the ones responsible for letting dozens of students a day who are locked out of their rooms back in.
As I understand it, the thing that differentiates an RSR/blue shirt from a public safety officer, is that officers are the ones who are in riskier situations, like directly confronting students, assessing monetary penalties and dealing with disturbances of the peace. Is checking someone’s ID against the master room list so confrontational that a highly trained security person must be present? Or could those highly trained officers be better used by patrolling dangerous areas on campus and helping students off campus who need assistance.
If we can’t afford to pay for more public safety officers to do other duties like man booths, we can certainly afford to pay students to sit there and call for the regular officers if someone refuses to swipe in. I know Hofstra is renowned for its public safety training program and is one of the model programs in New York. However, even the best programs have budgetary limits and learn how to adapt to them.
How is checking someone in from a car any different than checking someone into a building? It isn’t, and it would be a step towards stopping troublemakers before they get on campus.
Matthew Bisanz is a graduate student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].