University of Virginia Library

IACP Report Leads To 'New Look' In Police Force

By TIM WHEELER

As of July 1, the University's Department of Security
officially acquired a new name: the University Police
Department. The name switch, however, is just one of the
many changes that are being made or will soon be made in the
department in response to the recommendations of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police in the study
published in March.

Some of the planned changes are mere face-lifting, designed
mainly to boost the department's image of professionalism that
it is trying to promote. New shoulder patches for the officers'
uniforms, new decals for the patrol cars and three-wheeled
Cushman scooters, as well as new and better emergency
equipment for the vehicles will all help the department in
"putting on a new face," as University Police Director W.
Wade Bromwell described it.

Other changes, though, are more fundamental and
far-reaching to the "new look" police force. A new
Department of Safety, Security, and Mail, entirely separate
from the Police Department, has been created under the
direction of former Security Chief Rea G. Houchens to relieve
the Police Department of some of its non-police functions,
such as delivering messenger mail, operating Newcomb Hall
post office, and locking and unlocking classroom doors.

While the new department has already assumed
responsibility for delivering on-Grounds mail and supervising
the Newcomb Hall post office, University police officers will
continue, for the time being at least, to lock and unlock
classroom doors until an adequate staff of watchmen can be
hired for the fledgling department.

With offices located in an undamaged section of Peabody
Hall, which was ravaged by fire in late January, the Safety,
Security, and Mail Department presently has a staff of three
watchmen, two mail carriers, and two post office clerks, as
well as Mr. Houchens and his assistant, Robert P. Carter,
former administrative assistant to Mr. Bromwell in the old
Security Department.

CD/Kim Groner

Student Cadets Will Soon Be Enforcing Parking Regulations

take full responsibility for securing classrooms, delivering mail,
and also for maintaining industrial safety on the Grounds.

The new department, entirely separate from the University
Police, is an outgrowth of the IACP's recommendation that
the Security Department divest itself of all non-police duties.

A major reorganization is under way within the Police
Department, too. The divisions of the department have been
redrawn to include investigations, services, crime prevention,
and parking enforcement divisions. Subject to final approval in
Richmond for increased salaries, division heads have been
chosen, along with the two new positions of staff assistant and
police-community relations assistant to the director.

The department is also advertising an opening in the force
for a lieutenant to head the crime prevention division, a
position as yet unfilled.

The most publicized program to surface out of all the
department's changes to date has been the cadet program,
designed to improve interaction between the police force and
the student community.

"We're real excited about the cadet program," Mr.
Bromwell said. Yet, he cautioned, the program is still in the
planning stages until qualifications for cadet positions and
their law enforcement authorities, plus salary and duties, have
been clearly outlined.

Cadets will initially be under the parking enforcement
division of the new police force, yet could be moved up to
serve as dispatchers or work in the records department. They
may even aid in investigations as the program develops.

Though not a direct outgrowth of the IACP report, the
department is sponsoring a Campus Law Enforcement
In-Service Program next week to promote further
professionalism among institutional police forces throughout
the state.

Partially funded through the state's criminal justice
program, 25 officers from 13 public universities and colleges
around Virginia will attend each of the four one-week sessions
at Blandy Farm, a University-owned experimental farm near
Winchester.

The Virginia State Police and FBI will participate in the
in-service program, along with administrators from various
schools, including the University.

Other changes in the works but not yet implemented by
the department are:

1) a quicker method of receiving, dispatching, and
responding to complaints received by the department,

2) a uniform system of crime reporting and clearance of
complaints,

3) a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, recommended
by the IACP, to promote cooperation between the University
Police Department and local law enforcement agencies.