Inquiring Minds: Paul Verrecchia on campus safety recommendations

Last spring, the University hired The Bratton Group, an international security consulting firm, to gather information about campus safety and to make recommendations for improvements. The group made a number of recommendations, including the arming of campus police officers. Campus discussion of that issue is ongoing. The George Street Journal recently asked Col. Paul Verrecchia (left), head of Brown's Department of Public Safety, about the recommendations.

How has the Bratton Group's report redirected the efforts of the department?

Bratton's recommendations for improved safety focus on three areas. First is increased visibility of officers through varied kinds of patrols and relieving security officers of routine "lockout" duties within the residence halls. Second is getting a better understanding of crime trends and crimes through improved coordination with the Providence Police Department and the Rhode Island School of Design's Department of Public Safety. Third are improvements to the Student Security Operations, which are shuttle, escort and safewalk services. As we implement the Bratton recommendations we are addressing all three areas.

What significant changes have taken place so far to improve the quality of services provided to the Brown community?

We have changed the name of the department from Police and Security Services to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and restructured it, streamlining it to four bureaus from six.

The duties of the manager of special services have been expanded to include victim/witness assistance, particularly in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence, and bias-related or hate crimes. (It is important to note that Bratton found no real issues with the way Public Safety responded to crime victims and witnesses. The recommendations were made as a proactive approach in an attempt to avoid the potential for problems, and to ensure a high quality of support to victims and witnesses.)

DPS has instituted two new programs, Walk & Ride, and Ride & Ride. In Walk & Ride, campus police officers park their vehicles and conduct limited foot patrols of various areas of the campus. Ride & Ride allows bike officers to vary their patrol between vehicle and bicycle. We have installed a bike rack on the back of a marked police vehicle, and officers have the option to take a bike on patrol. The officers have enthusiastically received both programs.

We have implemented an investigative case assignment and management system. This gives us better managerial control over our investigative files, allowing for any supervisor to be able to know the status of a case easily and quickly. The system also has built-in timetables and benchmarks for investigators to meet.

I have had several meetings with Providence's former commissioner of public safety, and with the former police chief and current interim police chief, to discuss the recommendations as they pertain to our working relationship with Providence Police. They continue to pledge their cooperation with our department. Unfortunately the city is in a state of flux due to the upcoming mayoral election, and we do not know whether Colonel [Guido] Laorenza will remain the permanent chief. Even so, we have initiated a bi-weekly crime meeting with the Providence Police and RISD Public Safety, as recommended by Bratton. These meetings enable the three departments to discuss on a regular basis the crimes occurring in the area and to share information. The meetings are based upon a very successful program Bratton implemented in New York City.

We have changed the way we deal with officer discipline and complaints against officers. Although the captain always had oversight of the department's Internal Affairs function, he/she was not always the primary investigator. Under our old system sergeants were the first investigator of complaints. Under the new system, the captain is the single investigator in almost all circumstances. We also have discontinued the practice of automatically dismissing cases in which the complainant is not available or expresses an interest to discontinue the case. The new case management system also applies to internal investigative case files. And last, the most serious cases receive a “civilian review” by the executive vice president for finance and administration.

Improvements have been made to the shuttle and escort services. A new shuttle stop has been added at Minden Hall. Although this addition adds a few minutes’ wait at the stops, it eliminates the need for Minden Hall residents to walk about a block to get to the nearest stop. We have also been working with Telecommunications to install a telephone queue system so that escort patrons do not have to deal with annoying busy signals when they call for service. In addition, a special extension for blue-light phones has been installed, enabling shuttle and escort dispatchers to recognize that the call is coming in from a blue-light phone. New mobile radios have been installed in all shuttle vans, and new portable radios have been ordered for Safewalk. In addition, two new vans have been ordered for shuttle and escort. They are due to be delivered any day now.

In your view, how will the implementation of such changes affect the quality of life here at Brown and on College Hill?

The changes we have made thus far and the changes to be implemented will provide us with a safe environment. It is important to note that our goal is to provide that safe environment – not merely to make people feel safe, but rather to actually be safe.