Campus Protection Requires a Hybrid Design

• NCJ Number: 80661
• Journal: Security World Volume: 18 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1981) Pages: 32-38
• Author(s): S Matteson
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The hybrid campus security system of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is described.

Abstract

UCLA's Community Safety Department employs about 210 persons, who are a mix of State police officers, students, private security personnel, parking enforcement officers, environmental health and safety personnel, and radiation safety specialists. The combining of professionals and paraprofessionals into one department under a single head provides a force of safety personnel who can complement one another. The employees are coordinated through a central command center located in the department headquarters. The 52 campus State police officers are the backbone of the department. They are authorized to enforce State laws and are trained as emergency medical technicians, training just one step lower than that received by paramedics. About 100 students form the corps of community service officers. These students perform duties that free police and security officers to perform critical duties requiring specialized training. UCLA is the first major university in the country to use canine patrols. They have been so successful that, in addition to the two dogs in service and one in training, three more dogs will be added to the department within 3 years. The blending of personnel and skills to provide campus security and safety is also found at UCLA's hospital, where 11 private security officers are assigned to work with 10 police officers who are on permanent hospital duty. Because of the security abuse problem among the university's computers, a specialist in computer crime was recently hired full-time. Since UCLA's dormitories will be used to house athletes for the 1984 Summer Olympics, ambitious plans to install new security systems campuswide and to upgrade older systems are already underway. Photographs and graphic illustrations are used to show the structure and activities of the Community Safety Department.