To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the many letters I read and things I hear regarding the Public Safety department on our campus. I hear complaints that Public Safety does too much, wastes our money, or doesn’t do anything at all.
I have been at RPI for two years now and I have had several experiences with Public Safety officers. They have always been polite, respectful, and professional. When some issues arose at my home and I needed assistance, Public Safety officers took the time to help even though the issues occurred off campus—out of their jurisdiction. Officers were always available to offer guidance on what to do.
In the process of all this, I learned a lot about the operations at the Public Safety office. I saw the cramped shared offices that officers worked out of. I learned of funding and policy problems that prevent Public Safety from becoming a full-fledged police department. I learned that officers patrol the campus unarmed, which I imagine is somewhat scary when responding to active burglaries that aren’t necessarily being committed by unarmed RPI students. I also learned that for every person Public Safety helps out, there are a half-dozen other students ready to criticize and complain about the department’s performance.
A lot of people don’t understand why it is actually a good thing to have a Public Safety department on campus. Public Safety enforces the rules of the campus and the laws of this town and country. But they are also able to deal with many cases here on campus, which gives them a great amount of flexibility. This is not to say it’s easy to get away with things, but if you do get into trouble, you don’t necessarily have to find a lawyer and end up in Troy City Court, and you don’t necessarily get a police record that will follow you on to future jobs. The priorities of the Public Safety department aren’t necessarily the same as the priorities at the Troy Police Department, which is probably a good thing for most students. Events like EarthFest and GM Week might have ended up differently had we not had our own campus police department. Students need to have some faith that the system has been well thought out and was built to serve and protect the students, not harass them.
People should also give credit to the department for the cases they take on. A tremendous number of crimes committed in this country never get solved. Our campus safety department has an exceptional number of crimes that do get solved. When an investigation is completed, it may only get two lines in the Poly, but those two lines represent two weeks or even months of work to make this campus safer. An officer will sometimes work an 80-hour week, so don’t assume the department slacks off or doesn’t put in extra time and staff when they are needed.
The bottom line is that our campus safety system generally works well and serves the students best when dealing with issues that occur on campus. The department is not perfect and people should express their comments to the department by calling or e-mailing them when they feel a need to. However, complaining to the school newspaper about issues that have not been researched is counterproductive and builds unnecessary tension between students and officers. Students need to give more credit to the officers for the work that they do. Remember, their job is for your benefit, to keep you safe and out of serious trouble.
Darren Schreiber
CSCI ’02
