HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-1999 Articles· The Gazette, Tues., Sept. 28, 1999
Iii
MONTICELLO
Council eyes I.C. review board.
· The City Council last night
unanimously agreed to ask for a copy of
Iowa City's citizens review board
ordinance for its own Police
Department.
The request came following a
half-hour of heated discussion about a
Sept. 17 incident in which police
allegedly entered a home with drawn
guns. Two officers were disciplined
after the incident.
Several students and parents told the
council that the teens in the home of
Garnett Helgens were not the teens who
had been toilet-papering an area along
North Cedar Street.
City Attorney Mike Kane told the
council that an independent
investigation was not possible under
current city code and suggested they
study the Iowa City ordinance.
The Daily Iowan Page 1 of 3
Thursday, October 7, 1999
Page 0
To serve and protect, despite
perceptions
The UI Department of Public Safety confronts the I [] ~---
challenges of gaining respect.
By Gil Levy/The Daily Iowan
With almost twice as many arrests during the 1998-99 school year when
compared with the previous year, some 131 students and Iowa City
residents are feeling the effects of the UI Department of Public Safety's
attempt to establish itself as a recognized police force.
But even with the higher number of arrests, smdems' perceptions of the
department are slow to change.
"They just seem like rem-a-cops," said UI sophomore John Hagaard. "I
don't see the point of Public Safety; they're cops, but they're not."
An increase in the number of liquor-law citations, fi.om 93 to 288, and drug
offenses, fi.om 43 to 91, reflects the department's new attitude on law
enfor~ment.
Public Safety Sgt. Larry Langley said the change may be a result of
reorganization in the Public Safety administration, new officers with better
definition of duties and more encouragement.
"There was a dramatic increase in arrests because officers were taking
more initiative," Langley said.
Questioning authority
Even though Public Safety officers undergo police training and regularly
keep up their certification, just as do Iowa City and Coralville police
officers, an officer wearing the light blue uniform is not necessarily taken as
seriously, said Chuck Green, the director of Public Safety.
"It happens all the time that people question our authority," he said.
"There's confusion in the name; we're Public Safety officers, but essentially,
we're full police officers."
The Public Safety has 30 full-time officers with arrest power, the same as
municipal police officers, he said, and they carry out such duties as criminal
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Department has approximately 75 officers.
Some students say that Public Safety officers are not taken seriously,
believing that people don't know the jurisdictions and responsibilities of
Public Safety.
"It's my belief that it is our responsibility to help people to understand,"
Langley said. "We serve the UI community and the Iowa City area because
we're fully sworn police officers; we have the same training."
Even after being told that they have the same authority as police officers,
some students still laugh at the idea of Public Safety officers enforcing the
law.
"They don't even have a gun; I think it's funny," said UI l~eshman Rick
Hogan. "They questioned me at my door once, and I told them to go
away."
Tools of the trade
Public Safety is thc only campus police agency in the Big Ten whose
officers do not carry sidearms, Green said. The Board of Regents of the
state of Iowa may be reluctant to allow them to carry firearms because it
does not want to add more guns to college campuses.
"I'm not certain why," Green said. "I think any law-enforcement official
should include the tools to do law enforcement. Unfortunately, in this day
and age, arms arc tools."
Iowa City Police Chief R.J. Winkelhake said parts of his department's job,
as well as Public Safety's, would be made easier if Public Safety can'ied
sidearms. Currently, Iowa City police are needed to assist Public Safety in
the event of an armed com~ontation.
"More than 200 years of history say it's not a good idea," he said, referring
to Public Safety's lack of sidearrns. "I don't believe it's reasonable."
Students at thc University of Michigan generally respect public safety
officers, said Michigan senior Anish Wadhwa.
"You think more highly of them if the situation called for a sidearm; they'd
be able to do something instead of just stand there with a nightstick," he
said.
Nine years ago, the Michigan Department of Public Safety added firearms
to its officers' equipment.
"IfyouYe going to have police officers, you equip and train them as
officers," said Bill Bess, director of Michigan Public Safety. "That includes
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weapons."
Green said he is pleased with the UI administrators for giving him the
opportunities to speak to them regarding the addition of firearms. But it is
ultimately the decision of the regents whether officers carry sidearms, he
said.
The regents made the decision a long time ago, said Regent Clarkson
Kelly, though he didn't know the reasons behind it.
"I don't have a problem with firearms," he said. "If they have the same
training, I don't see why they shouldnl have ther~"
Although Public Safety officers do not carry guns, they are armed with
defensive weapons, such as a PR 24 nightstick and OC spray (pepper
spray); they wear body armor as well.
The Department of Public Safety at Iowa State University is not permitted
to carry firearms, either. Its officers carry similar defensive weapons.
"Studems view you more as a security guard," said ISU Lt. Steve Hasstedt.
"People are surprised when they get a citation or are arrested."
gl~ ~bl ue.weeg uiow~.edu
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