Misguided Approach to Bettering Campus Security
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I’ve been hearing a lot recently about how I should throw my support behind a supposedly campus-wide movement aimed at offering better pay to Department of Public Safety officers, but it’s been unclear so far as to why a raise is necessary, and how it will result in tangible improvements to campus safety.
I realize that I have been a vocal critic of on-campus security issues, and if there is something I can do to address those concerns, I am happy to do so. But I don’t foresee a pay raise having any effect. Furthermore, I’m not even sure why I’m expected to feel obligated to call for such a raise, given that I am not privy to the negotiating process.
Inequalities in compensation, like it or not, exist in just about every profession and in every local market. Why aren’t we calling for the other D.C. universities to pay their presidents a salary equal to University Predient John J. DeGioia’s? Rather than concentrating on alleged pay inequity, our attention could be better focused on what we want out of our relationship with DPS. Our primary concern ought to be: What do we want from DPS? This question must be answered if we are to come up with an effective security plan.
Our failure to do so as of yet is unsurprising. Georgetown is in love with what Bruce Schneier calls “Security Theater” — measures that give people a sense of increased security, but that don’t actually improve security. Feel free to disagree, but doesn’t this concept describe exactly what DPS does? They get paid $15.60 per hour to sit at a desk after midnight and kick people out of the library, and they want an additional $4 per hour to continue to do so. Does this really make us any safer? Of course not. Admittedly, one of the goals of the salary increase is to help reduce the high turnover rates, but who knows how long the temporary increase will satisfy the union?
I’m not saying DPS does not have a useful role on campus. I’m just not quite sure what that role is. An effective security system has two purposes: prevention and enforcement. DPS officers currently achieve neither well, although that can be partially attributed to the fact that they don’t have the authority necessary to do what some members of the student body expect them to. They don’t carry weapons — and I would not condone allowing them to do so.
When considering the issue of prevention, we can see just how misguided some of the biggest supporters of this pay increase really are. Georgetown Solidarity Committee members have argued that current wage levels make DPS officers feel undervalued, and as a result, they do not take their jobs seriously. Last time I checked, in the real world, if you don’t take your job seriously, you’re fired, not given a raise.
Another GSC member was quoted by The Georgetown Voice as saying, “We’re not talking about this so much in terms of numbers. The important point is … the officers who are on their jobs everyday have said [this pay increase] is what we need.” Would anyone really expect to hear anything different from DPS officers?
The comments that seem the most unrealistic, however, come from those who think that by throwing money around, the bias-related incidents will disappear. No matter how well-paid or well-staffed campus police are, they cannot be expected, realistically, to prevent such incidents. Calling for pay increases as a means to achieve security goals that are not reasonable — given the nature of the duties and authority of DPS officers — will only distract us from more viable options to increase safety.
Colin Nagle is a junior in the College. He can be reached at nagle@thehoya.com. Getting in Tune appears every other Friday.
To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact opinion@thehoya.com. Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.
Nov 20 2009 at 3:33 a.m.
One other major point I didn't have room for in the original version:
Let me remind you that the bigger issue wih the lack of adequate security on campus is not the performance of our current team of officers, but that this team by their own admission is critically understaffed. Let me also remind you that this is Georgetown, where we operate from a cash-strapped mentality. We can pay our officers whatever they ask, but if we agree to an "efficiency wage" or any other pay increase, that will inevitably reduce the level of employment, exactly the opposite effect we are trying to acheive. Don't believe me? Students successfully lobbied for a wage increase on behalf of food-service workers here at Georgetown, only to see a sizeable (and noticeable) reduction in staff...
Whether you agree or disagree with me on this, I invite you to respond, especially to the question of what we want out of our relationship with campus security and/or how we should proceed.
Nov 20 2009 at 8:21 a.m.
I completely agree with you. Look at what happened with the kids found in McCarthy. First of all, the kids were found by GU students, and some have commented on the Hoya article that DPS was not responsive to calls for help. Second, even after they got involved DPS simply returned the thieves to their parents and "banned them from campus." The fact that a "ban" is completely unenforceable aside, we see that DPS simply failed to pursue and secure any kind of resolution that will make Georgetown safer. So if DPS's methods and mentality are not effective, then is the $4 going to make a difference? Would a DPS officer making $4 more have said "Wow, I don't think a 'ban from campus' (whatever that is) is really going to work. I should do more."? Personally, I think not. I think he would have made $4 more and still not taken effective steps to ensure security.
Any money that would go to pay DPS officers more should go to an extensive network of security cameras. People who are out on campus spraypainting slurs, pushing perceived homosexuals, smashing windows, and robbing dorm rooms should be identified from tape and prosecuted. Period. Whether those offenders are students or not, start printing in the Hoya and publishing online surveillance footage of the offenders, and we'll see how hesitant people become to treat our campus like their own playground.
Nov 20 2009 at 2:29 p.m.
Colin, saying DPS officers only sit at desks after midnight and kick people out of the library is a reductionist argument, and you know it. Your column makes good points, but DPS officers face considerably more danger than you present.
But then, what should we expect from someone whose earlier column acted like "Security Studies" is about campus security?
Nov 20 2009 at 6:21 p.m.
Emma,
While you are correct that my argument is reductionist, I feel it is no more reductionist than saying that simply by handing out money, our problems will miraculously disappear... And no more reductionist than your misinterpretation of my earlier columns (but thanks for reading them). I know the "Security Studies" program is not specifically about campus security, but that doesn't remove the irony that a school which hands out graduate degrees on how to handle complex security issues can't get its act together on comparitively minor issues like theft and timely communication.
Keep the feedback coming, folks, regardless of which side of the issue you're on. I just ask that this doesn't become a forum for dumping on DPS officers. Though it may be hard to justify a raise, that doesn't mean they are worthless either...
What does everyone else think?
Nov 22 2009 at 10:16 a.m.
Why pay more for decreased security?
People think that throwing more money at something will make it better.
I doubt the DOPS budget will increase, considering our low endowment. That means that there will less officers, therefore lower security. If the DOPS budget will increase, then it is coming out of our tuition, which is already the second highest tuition of all colleges in the United States. The people who think DOPS are underpaid should just give them their money as opposed to haveing all of us give them our money.
I really hope the Georgetown U board doesn't think that most students support the pay increase. Just because some students protest doesn't mean all students feel that way. There are many people who are against the pay increase, but they don't protest because nobody protests to keep things the way they are, rather they protest for change.
Nov 24 2009 at 1:06 a.m.
The misconception with your article, Colin, is that you believe increased wage is the only demand students are making. If you had done your research, you would have learned that the current coalition also recognizes the need for better training and higher staffing ratios, and that these demands have been articulated by DPS officers as well. Also, is there anything particularly wrong with paying employees a competitive wage on par with other DC universities? As a Jesuit University, aren't we trying to foster the idea of men and women caring for others?
And please stop trying to fish for comments with the whole "Please let me know what you think!" spiel. It's kind of sad.
Dec 02 2009 at 9:57 a.m.
All this talk about DPS needing a pay raise...they have yet to prove to me that they deserve a penny more than what they already get. Why should we reward behavior and decisions like letting people who trespassed into a dorm, burgled (right word?) rooms, and stole thousands of dollars worth of items go virtually free? Whoever made that decision should be fired, not given a raise.