subject: Case Study on Security Measures [print this page] Strengths Strengths
In my opinion the best thing the new president of the University of Pennsylvania did was to hire the Deputy Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department. This gave the University of Pennsylvania a great position to build a partnership between the City of Philadelphia Police Department and the University of Pennsylvania.The new Vice President for Public Safety immediately capitalized on this, by using the detectives from the city of Philadelphia Police Department to help arrest, and dismiss the corrupt officers. While going after the bad officers the VP maintained the department morale up by supporting the good officers acting in good faith. Additionally, he supported their request for pistols instead of revolvers and obtained a City of Philadelphia Police frequency for the department. His plan was a long term plan and included a force double the size of the current initial force. The investigative branch of the department was double, and the addition of a chief of detectives enhanced investigative operations. This in turn led to reduced recidivist's crime. In addition to all the steps already mentioned the V.P. also contracted with the contract security companies to add walking and bike patrols on campus as well as the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. This and the fact that the company assigned account onsite supervisors and account president.
Weaknesses
The University of Pennsylvania had weak areas in its security system. Among them was the outdated and unsatisfactory physical facility which housed the Public Safety Department. The department lacked direct communication with the Philadelphia Police Department.The security as well as the police department was understaffed to handle the crime problem. Additionally, some officers on the department were unmotivated by being underpaid. The detective squad was understaffed and lacked departmental leadership and supervision. These were some of the areas which needed immediate correction.
Recommendations
My recommendation would be to continue with current enhancements already established. These include the CCTV system, additional officers and bigger and newer facilities. The Public Safety Division may be able to sell its security services to businesses on the community without sacrificing service to the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, the Public Safety Department should develop a retention program to retain its good officers. This should probably include a better pay scale equivalent to other police departments on the local area.
References
Emergency Planning Handbook, Second Edition. (2003). American Society of Industrial Security
International Disaster Management Council.
Operation Cooperation (2000). Guidelines for Partnerships Between Law Enforcement and Private Security Organizations. Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Parfomak, P.W. (2004). Guarding America: Security Guards and U.S. Critical Infrastructure Protection. CRS Report for Congress.
