Davall: Public Safety breaks up more parties

Public Safety officers defended their image at a USG Senate meeting last night that focused on student concerns over campus safety.

A recent Public Safety initiative that allows officers to patrol dormitories on Thursday and Saturday nights to crack down on high-risk drinking has been met with hostility from students.

“We’re seen as the kind of ‘beer police,’ and that gives us a bad name,” Deputy Director Charles Davall said to the student leaders. “[It’s] unfortunate because we really want to have good relations with the students,” he added.

Davall assured the USG, however, that the Public Safety is more than just a late-night alcohol patrol. He explained that he encourages his officers to have positive interactions with students at every opportunity they have, beyond the ill-fated late-night run-ins that are typical of room party break-ups.

Before the patrolling program was implemented, “we had to wait for a call from a neighbor [before breaking up a party],” Davall explained. The new program allows officers to break up parties without noise complaints. “Now that we’re in the halls, we’re breaking up more parties,” he said.

Several USG members questioned whether the patrols have actually reduced high-risk drinking on campus thus far. Davall said that such statistics are not available.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to figure that out,” Davall said, adding that the number of independent noise complaints has not decreased since Public Safety began proactively patrolling residential hallways.

Representatives from Public Safety attended the recent Alcohol Coalition Committee (ACC) workshops, where students and administrators met to discuss improvements to the University’s alcohol policy.

Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince’. Donate now »

“Hopefully something really good will come out of [the ACC meetings] that will give us a better direction,” Davall said.

Davall also expressed a desire to continue to foster open communications with students through partnerships with student groups like the USG. “We’d be much happier to hear about your issues directly than to read about them in the ‘Prince,’ ” he said.

Among Public Safety’s newest programs is an anonymous crime tip line, created in response to a homophobic slur found in Holder Hall last month. The line will allow students to provide confidential information that will aid investigations.

Above all, Davall stressed, “We want to make this as safe a campus as possible.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Also discussed was a joint Public Safety-USG initiative to improve lighting and signage in Lot 23, where many students park their cars at night.

Budget allocation

USG treasurer Mike Monagle ’09 presented the USG’s spring 2008 budget last night, which allotted a total of $155,500 to overall operating funds. The proposal passed by an overwhelming margin.

Also on Monagle’s agenda was an amendment to the USG constitution, which will require USG members to obtain Senate approval for project expenditures over $1,000.

“I don’t think that the USG should be spending a lot of time making amendments,” Monagle said, “but I think that this is an important one.” The amendment, Monagle explained, will serve as a safeguard against unnecessary spending and will allow the Senate to better track its spending.

Housing options

USG president Josh Weinstein ’09 raised concerns regarding the campus reaction to the administration’s decision to annex Spelman Halls 7 and 8 to Whitman College, decreasing the number of beds allotted to independent housing.

“Some people very concerned that we’re not doing anything about Spelman, but, as you know, we are,” Weinstein assured the convened senators. “We’ve been in very close contact [with the administration on this issue],” he added.