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Final two DPS candidates visit; decision coming soon
After the candidates finished their visits Wednesday and Thursday, the University is asking for feedback
by Jill Aho | Senior News Editor
Editor's Note: The Emerald ran a story on Douglas L. Tripp, the other finalist in the search for a permanent Director of Public Safety on Wednesday. That article is available here.
The last two of the three finalist candidates looking to fill the vacant slot at the top of the Department of Public Safety were on campus Wednesday and Thursday to meet members of the University community.
The University has been without a permanent director for its Department of Public Safety for more than four years. Former Interim Director Tom Hicks, who had been employed with the University since 1983, resigned from his three-year stint in the temporary position at the end of December 2006. Richard Turkiewicz, a former Director of Public Safety and Police at the University of Central Florida, has held the interim position since March 2007.
Assistant Vice President for Administration Brian Smith said the University will be soliciting feedback now that the candidates have all had a campus visit.
"We want to get as much input from as many groups as possible," he said.
The best-suited candidate will return to campus within a month to meet with Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke who will be making a decision "as soon as possible," Smith said.
One of Beckner's goals is to reach out to students
Detective Lt. Scott Beckner is the only candidate for the DPS director position with no Oregon ties. Currently working for the Michigan State University Police Department, Beckner has experience with the East Lansing, Mich. police department as well.
MSU, which has enrollment nearly twice that of the University of Oregon, has a fully armed and trained police department. Beckner, who said he has always wanted to be a police chief somewhere, said he has decided to leave MSU because he knows he will never be able to advance to chief with so many people in line ahead of him.
About 15 people, including a few students, turned out to hear Beckner's views on University public safety. Beckner has a law degree and a master's from MSU. At MSU he was assigned to the special events division.
One of Beckner's main goals is to reach out to students through student unions on campus. He said he understands DPS has not been communicative with students.
"There's a bit of a void there," he said. "I need the support of the students more than they need my support. I know that."
Beckner also supports making DPS into a full-blown police department.
"I would send my daughter to a place with armed officers because they are professionals," he said. Beckner added he would want to know how students felt about the move.
Beckner said MSU has a citizen review panel that investigates incidents involving use of force and campus police. He would support the formation of such a panel at the University. He also said he would like to have a media representative to brief campus media on what DPS has been up to and to ensure compliance with the Cleary Act, which requires reporting of serious crimes that occur on campus.
The inevitable question of parking at the University was approached, to which Beckner jokingly replied, "I was told parking is not an issue at the University of Oregon."
Beckner said he would like to increase the visibility of DPS on campus and maybe even assign an officer to the residence halls. He also wants to update the DPS Web page, something that fell victim to budget cuts last year.
Williams has ideas to alleviate parking problem
Capt. Kevin Williams is a retired police officer who worked in Los Angeles for 20 years. He came to Eugene to work for the Lane County Sheriff's Office two years ago. He said his family has declared their love for the city and Duck football.
Williams is an advocate for an armed police force on campus. He said he believes DPS should carry Tasers, a hot-button issue in Eugene because the city's police department is currently taking steps to acquire them. Williams brought Tasers to the Lane County Jail and put them in the hands of guards there. He said since Tasers were given to jailers, the number of incidents that involved injury to either inmates or officers decreased.
"We need a trained, competent and qualified team of professionals," he said. Williams said he knows there may never be a police department on campus, but if that should occur he is willing to lead the department through the transition.
"Oregon and Hawaii are the only states stuck in the dark ages on this issue," he said.
Williams said he would like to bring "active shooter training" to DPS so officers are prepared for an incident where someone is shooting on campus. He said he would also like to encourage a training day on campus for area police officers, to prepare for what might occur should a riot start or a group of student protesters get out of hand.
Williams told the 18 people, including just a few students, who came to his public forum that he is not an expert in handling those kinds of situations, but said, "I've got a Rolodex people would kill for." He said he has been in contact with heads of other campus security to talk about many issues, including how to solve the parking problem on campus.
Williams said he has several ideas that could alleviate some parking pressures. One idea is to prevent freshman from parking on campus, a tradition that exists on several campuses in the U.S. He would also explore the possibility of having freshman and sophomores park at Autzen Stadium and shuttle them to campus. He wants to engage all the people affected to find out what solution they believe will work best.
"There will be people that feel that resolution does not work for them," he said.
Want to know more?
See the candidates' resumes and submit feedback online at http://jhall.uoregon.edu/vpfa/feedback.
The last two of the three finalist candidates looking to fill the vacant slot at the top of the Department of Public Safety were on campus Wednesday and Thursday to meet members of the University community.
The University has been without a permanent director for its Department of Public Safety for more than four years. Former Interim Director Tom Hicks, who had been employed with the University since 1983, resigned from his three-year stint in the temporary position at the end of December 2006. Richard Turkiewicz, a former Director of Public Safety and Police at the University of Central Florida, has held the interim position since March 2007.
Assistant Vice President for Administration Brian Smith said the University will be soliciting feedback now that the candidates have all had a campus visit.
"We want to get as much input from as many groups as possible," he said.
The best-suited candidate will return to campus within a month to meet with Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke who will be making a decision "as soon as possible," Smith said.
One of Beckner's goals is to reach out to students
Detective Lt. Scott Beckner is the only candidate for the DPS director position with no Oregon ties. Currently working for the Michigan State University Police Department, Beckner has experience with the East Lansing, Mich. police department as well.
MSU, which has enrollment nearly twice that of the University of Oregon, has a fully armed and trained police department. Beckner, who said he has always wanted to be a police chief somewhere, said he has decided to leave MSU because he knows he will never be able to advance to chief with so many people in line ahead of him.
About 15 people, including a few students, turned out to hear Beckner's views on University public safety. Beckner has a law degree and a master's from MSU. At MSU he was assigned to the special events division.
One of Beckner's main goals is to reach out to students through student unions on campus. He said he understands DPS has not been communicative with students.
"There's a bit of a void there," he said. "I need the support of the students more than they need my support. I know that."
Beckner also supports making DPS into a full-blown police department.
"I would send my daughter to a place with armed officers because they are professionals," he said. Beckner added he would want to know how students felt about the move.
Beckner said MSU has a citizen review panel that investigates incidents involving use of force and campus police. He would support the formation of such a panel at the University. He also said he would like to have a media representative to brief campus media on what DPS has been up to and to ensure compliance with the Cleary Act, which requires reporting of serious crimes that occur on campus.
The inevitable question of parking at the University was approached, to which Beckner jokingly replied, "I was told parking is not an issue at the University of Oregon."
Beckner said he would like to increase the visibility of DPS on campus and maybe even assign an officer to the residence halls. He also wants to update the DPS Web page, something that fell victim to budget cuts last year.
Williams has ideas to alleviate parking problem
Capt. Kevin Williams is a retired police officer who worked in Los Angeles for 20 years. He came to Eugene to work for the Lane County Sheriff's Office two years ago. He said his family has declared their love for the city and Duck football.
Williams is an advocate for an armed police force on campus. He said he believes DPS should carry Tasers, a hot-button issue in Eugene because the city's police department is currently taking steps to acquire them. Williams brought Tasers to the Lane County Jail and put them in the hands of guards there. He said since Tasers were given to jailers, the number of incidents that involved injury to either inmates or officers decreased.
"We need a trained, competent and qualified team of professionals," he said. Williams said he knows there may never be a police department on campus, but if that should occur he is willing to lead the department through the transition.
"Oregon and Hawaii are the only states stuck in the dark ages on this issue," he said.
Williams said he would like to bring "active shooter training" to DPS so officers are prepared for an incident where someone is shooting on campus. He said he would also like to encourage a training day on campus for area police officers, to prepare for what might occur should a riot start or a group of student protesters get out of hand.
Williams told the 18 people, including just a few students, who came to his public forum that he is not an expert in handling those kinds of situations, but said, "I've got a Rolodex people would kill for." He said he has been in contact with heads of other campus security to talk about many issues, including how to solve the parking problem on campus.
Williams said he has several ideas that could alleviate some parking pressures. One idea is to prevent freshman from parking on campus, a tradition that exists on several campuses in the U.S. He would also explore the possibility of having freshman and sophomores park at Autzen Stadium and shuttle them to campus. He wants to engage all the people affected to find out what solution they believe will work best.
"There will be people that feel that resolution does not work for them," he said.
Want to know more?
See the candidates' resumes and submit feedback online at http://jhall.uoregon.edu/vpfa/feedback.
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