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Public Safety Case Study by Roy Murphy, CPP

Recently Roy completed a seven-month assignment as the Interim Senior Director of Campus Safety, at a Four (4) year, Liberal Arts College in Connecticut. He was responsible for the management of an In-House Security Force, the Physical Security Program and the College’s Emergency Management Program. During this assignment, Roy implemented several process improvements to enhance campus public safety and services while making the department more cost-effective.

An example of these improvements included:

• The establishment of a new Department Performance and Attendance policy. Prior to having this new policy, the campus safety group did not have any tracking method for employee documentation to support HR requirements.
This policy enabled the college to reduce the cost of overtime due to staffing and ‘gaming’ the system on absenteeism and overtime.

• The development, acceptance and the roll out of a new weekly work schedule. His review showed that prior to the new schedule, the department was operating with a minimum, 12.5% Open shifts per week and were unable to meet minimum staffing requirements. This new schedule reduced Overtime to the low single digits; saving the College Tens of Thousands of dollars.

• The development of a formal Control Center to serve as the hub for all Campus Safety functions. Prior to the buildout of the new facility, the operations were being conducted out of a 40-square foot, non-ADA compliant gate house. By establishing the Command Center, it allowed a single post to manage multiple key functions which previously were not being addressed or were addressed inefficiently by multiple positions. This allowed for reductions in staffing; saving the College Tens of Thousands of dollars.

• The conversion/upgrade of the department’s analog radio system to a digital communications system. The transition included a repeater, base and portable radios, mobile units and deployment of antennas to help address troubled reception areas on the campus.

• The implementation of a “Voice Logger system” was added to the department that recorded all phone and radio communications in and out of the Control Center. In addition, a “Dispatcher Software module” was added to the department’s report writing system. These upgrades provided the College with greater mitigation of liability by allowing for an accurate Call Tracking and Dispatching tool that provides clear authority and response to Campus Safety concerns.

• Developed and issued a new department “Use of Force” policy and provided multi-day practical hands-on training. Another mitigation initiative.

• Worked with a cross section campus management team to develop a new “Drug Policy” for the college that was submitted to the CT State Attorney for review and approval. Without this policy, the college risked criminal and civil action for possessing illegal controlled substances.

• Participated on the Team that developed a position description for a new Director of Campus Safety. Provided a written review on each of the original candidates and interviewed final candidates for the position.