Spring Break
DPS officer fired after alleged assault
Noah Cohen
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: News
A Drexel University public safety officer was fired after allegedly assaulting a supervisor April 13, according to Domenic Ceccanecchio, senior associate vice president for public safety.
The supervisor was punched in the head repeatedly by his subordinate while questioning why the officer had left his post and instructing him on how to use a radio, the supervisor said in a statement given to University officials.
"The left side of my head was hit, causing a lump and pain," the statement said.
Public safety managers responded quickly, Ceccanecchio said.
"We had a determination right away that the guard will not be suitable for here [Drexel]," he added.
Ceccanecchio said he immediately removed the officer from the campus and was later told the officer had been fired from University security contractor AlliedBarton.
Public safety has a "zero tolerance" policy towards misconduct, Ceccanecchio said.
A statement from AlliedBarton Security Services confirmed the guard was fired after the incident. The statement read, "On April 13 an AlliedBarton security officer was terminated for initiating an altercation with his supervisor during the course of a private meeting between the two,"
AlliedBarton spokesman Lawrence Rubin said he could not release the names or service records of those involved due to company policy.
Records show that at the time of the alleged assault, several public safety officers had to pull the alleged attacker away from the supervisor.
University security management was also quickly notified, according to the incident report.
Although the incident was troubling, the response showed public safety took it seriously, Stacey Rose, student life chair for the undergraduate student government association, said.
"It shows what strong progress our public safety department has made with addressing concerns that may affect the students," Rose said.
Rose has worked with public safety officials on addressing a variety of student concerns, including the "secret shopper" program, in which students evaluate public safety officers.
Kristen Smith, a junior biomedical engineering major who is running for USGA President also praised the response of public safety managers.
"I am very pleased to see that it was adequately taken care of in such a timely matter," said Smith.
Smith said if elected she would work to increase communication between officers and students.
"...students need to know that the officers are people they can communicate with," Smith added.
Although the University currently contracts unarmed security officers from AlliedBarton, a plan is underway to add a fully-sworn police department to the campus security force.
The supervisor was punched in the head repeatedly by his subordinate while questioning why the officer had left his post and instructing him on how to use a radio, the supervisor said in a statement given to University officials.
"The left side of my head was hit, causing a lump and pain," the statement said.
Public safety managers responded quickly, Ceccanecchio said.
"We had a determination right away that the guard will not be suitable for here [Drexel]," he added.
Ceccanecchio said he immediately removed the officer from the campus and was later told the officer had been fired from University security contractor AlliedBarton.
Public safety has a "zero tolerance" policy towards misconduct, Ceccanecchio said.
A statement from AlliedBarton Security Services confirmed the guard was fired after the incident. The statement read, "On April 13 an AlliedBarton security officer was terminated for initiating an altercation with his supervisor during the course of a private meeting between the two,"
AlliedBarton spokesman Lawrence Rubin said he could not release the names or service records of those involved due to company policy.
Records show that at the time of the alleged assault, several public safety officers had to pull the alleged attacker away from the supervisor.
University security management was also quickly notified, according to the incident report.
Although the incident was troubling, the response showed public safety took it seriously, Stacey Rose, student life chair for the undergraduate student government association, said.
"It shows what strong progress our public safety department has made with addressing concerns that may affect the students," Rose said.
Rose has worked with public safety officials on addressing a variety of student concerns, including the "secret shopper" program, in which students evaluate public safety officers.
Kristen Smith, a junior biomedical engineering major who is running for USGA President also praised the response of public safety managers.
"I am very pleased to see that it was adequately taken care of in such a timely matter," said Smith.
Smith said if elected she would work to increase communication between officers and students.
"...students need to know that the officers are people they can communicate with," Smith added.
Although the University currently contracts unarmed security officers from AlliedBarton, a plan is underway to add a fully-sworn police department to the campus security force.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Phil Collins
posted 5/05/08 @ 11:52 PM EST
With all our money going to this university, they had better use some of it to hire qualified, gun toting police, instead of the inflated, jelly smusher donut types. (Continued…)
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