By Chris Brown
In an effort to improve security and help students feel safe on the University of Louisville’s Belknap and Health Sciences campuses, the Department of Public Safety is adding four new police officers to its forces this month.
The additional positions will boost the number of officers patrolling the campuses to 25, excluding sworn police officers in administrative positions and civilian security officers.
“Our plan is that we won’t be below four officers at any given time,” said Maj. Robert Bringhurst, who oversees operations and patrol for the department. Bringhust said the new additions will add one officer to each shift, which previously worked with a minimum staff of three police officers.
“We’re hoping to have two officers during the daytime and evening on HSC, and up to three officers on Belknap during the daytime and evenings,” Bringhurst said.
With four sworn officers working during each shift, the officer-student officer ratio is 5,440:1, based on total student enrollment numbers for fall 2005. Having five officers on duty improves that number to 4,352:1. Considering only students living in on-campus housing at Belknap and HSC, those ratios increase to 650:1 and 520:1, respectively.
The move is designed to increase evening patrols, particularly in the area around Ekstrom Library on Belknap campus. DPS already increased security around the library earlier this year by adding two security officers and assigning them to that area in the evenings.
“U of L is very safe; we’re still seeing very few crimes on our campus,” DPS Director Wayne Hall said. “But many of our students and faculty live in Old Louisville or visit restaurants and clubs in the area, and they need to feel as safe walking home as they do when they’re on campus.”
Melissa Shuter, assistant to the vice president for Business Affairs, said that as far as she knows no other budget items had to be cut to fund the new positions. The additional funding for the officers came from the provost’s office, she said.
Despite the additional staff the department will have to work with, safety remains a concern for some students on both campuses. Student Government Association Services Vice President Sowmya Srinivasan, a senior music major, said she understands that university police are concerned about campus security, but she said additional steps must be taken to keep students safe. “They’ve done a little for us, but we need a lot more,” she said. Srinivasan, who lives on Belknap campus now but is planning to attend U of L medical school next year, is a member of the DPS advisory committee, which consists of students, staff and faculty who make recommendations to the department.
Junior Spanish major Loran Bernert, an assistant apartment manager at the Medical-Dental housing complex on HSC, said that while adding police officers may improve security, students and staff may not realize a difference if they don’t know more officers are on duty. “Added visibility will help increase the serious tone of security on campus,” she said.
Other students worry that even adding more officers won’t do enough to strengthen police visibility on campus. “Most of the time, you don’t even see them around,” said freshman Sheron Taylor, an education major.
The new officers are Chuck Bryant, a retired officer from the Jefferson County Police Department currently working for the Kentucky Parks System, and Pete Ward, retired from the Louisville Police Department. The other two officers are expected to be hired by the end of the month, but will attend recruit training programs before they begin working.
