You see a young guy in a navy blue police uniform, drinking beer from a red plastic cup while talking with some girls in the corner, and think that someone forgot to tell you about the Cops and Robbers theme. But the man in the corner isn’t dressed for a theme party; he’s an on-duty Department of Public Safety officer.
Bridget Lines (SFS ‘07) described seeing one such scene in a Village B apartment the weekend of April 1.
“The DPS officer was just chilling in the corner, talking to kids and drinking beer,” she said. “Some of my friends asked him to take a picture with them, and he was happy to, but he was really careful that the beer wasn’t in the picture.”
Meghan Orie (CAS ‘07) recalled a similar encounter with an on-duty DPS officer.
“I distinctly recall chatting it up with him for a while. He was probably at the party for at least half an hour, drinking,” she said. “One of his supervisors knocked on the door because it was getting kind of loud, and the guy literally bolted. I distracted the supervisor by taking a picture with him. I really hope I run into that guy again because he was truly awesome-keep on truckin’, brutha!”
Most students, like Orie, expressed affection for the DPS force and said that they generally are fair in their party enforcement policies.
Rob Hutton (SFS ‘05), who knows a number of DPS officers through driving Safe Rides vans, said that although he has overheard one new officer make what he considers extremely inappropriate remarks about young women at parties, the vast majority of DPS officers do their job effectively and professionally.
“Like many students, they aren’t really pleased with their role as the ‘fun police,’” Hutton said. “They wish there was another group to respond to party problems, so they could really concentrate on safety.”
Although Hutton said that he has not personally witnessed a DPS officer consuming alcohol with students while on duty, he has heard other students discussing the issue. He noted, however, that a very small number of young officers appear to be doing so.
Most students agreed that the problem does not seem to be widespread among the force and consistently described a few specific officers who have been seen drinking alcohol at parties.
“I think it’s a couple irresponsible guys who are doing a disservice to DPS in general,” Cathy Richter (MSB ‘07) asserted.
University Director of Communications Julie Bataille said that she is not aware of any incidents involving DPS officers drinking while on duty, but said that the University would respond quickly if such were the case.
“Such allegations would be handled appropriately and privately as an internal personnel matter,” she said.
One dissatisfied officer, who did not want to be identified, pointed to the low starting salary of DPS officers, $11.20 per hour, as a major reason for the lack of professionalism among some officers.
“There is no work morale when a contracted controller checking ID cards in the dorms is getting as much or more money than we are,” he pointed out. “Why should we stay here, in a situation where we get no respect from kids on campus and the University doesn’t allow us to truly police?”
The officer said that the low rate of pay has direct implications for the force’s stability, as the Special Police Officer certification that officers receive from both DPS and the Metropolitan Police Department allows them to command between $17 and $24 per hour working elsewhere, resulting in a high rate of job turnover. He also complained about the quality of the 40-hour training session that the officers undergo prior to starting work.
Mike Wilson (CAS ‘05), a Georgetown Solidarity Committee member, said that he feels that there is a direct correlation between inappropriate behavior on duty and poor wages and training.
“The veteran officers are getting paid enough so that they would not do anything to risk their jobs, but many of the younger officers feel much less loyalty to an institution that does not pay them an adequate wage for risking their lives every day to protect every member of the University community,” he said. “If we value safety and security we will value DPS officers and pay and treat them appropriately.”
