Representatives of the outside accreditation team assessing the Department of Public Safety heard concerns from members - or, more accurately, one member - of the community at a public forum Monday night.
The team, from the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, will return to campus in August for a full five-day inspection to determine if DPS is in compliance with nearly 350 applicable standards, including use-of-force, firearms and internal discipline policies.
But administrators and DPS officials wanted to ensure that students and faculty had an opportunity to address the assessment team before the end of the semester, according to Walter Hunter, vice president for administration.
Hunter said he could not speculate about the low turnout at the event, which was publicized in Morning Mail and a Herald advertisement, but added that he did not believe it reflected a lack of faith among students in the accreditation process.
"There certainly shouldn't be any concern about the lack of objectivity in this process," Hunter said. "Compliance with these standards is something the department works on all the time."
DPS received its initial accreditation in 1998 and was reaccredited in 2001. The decision to seek certification is voluntary for the department, and DPS is currently one of only five accredited law enforcement agencies in the state.
At the hearing, Alexandra Surasky-Ysasi '07 described an incident last semester in which drunken high school students wandered through her dorm and threatened female residents. Surasky-Ysasi, an Emery-Woolley resident, said DPS did not respond promptly or seriously to the incident and conducted an investigation that was "very lacking."
Surasky-Ysasi told The Herald that even after several meetings with administrators about the incident, she and others involved were not satisfied with the DPS response. She said she felt the story was one the accreditation team needed to hear.
"If they didn't reform when the community asked them to reform, I don't think they should be recertified," she said.
The hearing came as DPS faces questions over its response to an alleged hate crime Feb. 14. Joel Madrid '05, who was involved in the incident, has filed complaints against several members of the department, including Chief of Public Safety Paul Verrecchia.
The administration is currently in the process of finding people outside the University to investigate the complaints and plans to complete the investigation by the end of the semester.
"We look forward to having an outside, objective assessment, and it's important for the community to feel that this investigation will be thorough and professional," Hunter said.
Although Hunter said he was not concerned that the complaints will hinder the accreditation process, he added, "Like any internal investigation, I expect it to be something CALEA will review."
Glen Allen, chief of the Henderson, N.C., Police Department and the leader of the assessment team, said he was not surprised by the low turnout at the event. He said he has conducted hearings at which dozens of community members voiced concerns and others at which no one showed up to speak.
But Nathaniel Lepp '06, who attended the meeting but did not take the floor, said he was disappointed by the turnout and blamed the University for failing to adequately publicize the event.
