The Triangle

Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Mike Arrison

Media Credit: Dave Hernandez

New members of the Drexel Police Department have been sowrn in and are now patrolling the campus.

Domenic Ceccanecchio, senior associate vice president of Public Safety, said the eight new police officers and two supervisors were sworn in during a ceremony Mar. 13. He said the police officers patrol the University campus by car from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. each day.

"As we grow and expand the department, we'd like to move to 24-hour coverage," Ceccanecchio said. "As our patrol function grows, our community outreach will grow as well."

The community outreach presently involves one police officer assigned to every residence hall on campus, according to Ceccanecchio, who said this arrangement will help officers educate and communicate with the student body. Ceccanecchio also said that as the department grows, they hope to expand this program to include the Greek Life at Drexel, as well.

The new department's major goals are to provide a feeling of security to the students and to address incidents and concerns "professionally and quickly."

"We hope that just the fact that people are engaged and dedicated to the safety of the campus will help students feel safer," Ceccanecchio said. "We also want to make sure the academic mission of the University is supported and continued."

Ceccanecchio said the police arrested one person seen breaking into a vehicle on March 30 but also said students and faculty should remain cautious. Currently, the main threat to both students and faculty has been the rise in thefts from automobiles, according to Ceccanecchio, who also sent out an e-mail alert to residents.

"We've tried to focus on that issue as part of the education and awareness the police department wants to provide," Ceccanecchio said. "We want to make the community aware of how to act and react to protect themselves. The key to solving this problem is everyone."

Edward Spangler, the director of police, said simply putting a GPS out of sight or in the glove compartment is not enough to avoid thefts.

"People can still see the bracket, the wire, or the cable, so they know something is there," Spangler said. "People should put everything out of sight."

Another problem the police have seen, according to Spangler, is students not paying enough attention to their surroundings.

"They are texting or listening to their music while walking and just step right into the street, which is really dangerous," Spangler said.

George McKnight and Clyde Williams, both members of the Drexel police department, have previous experience as police officers in New Jersey and Philadelphia, respectively. McKnight spent 25 years as a police officer in New Jersey and a year and a half as a Public Safety supervisor at Drexel, while Williams worked with the Philadelphia police for 15 years as an officer.

Both McKnight and Williams said they want the Drexel community to know the police are on campus to support them in any way.

"We want to show students we are here for them and will do anything we can to help them," Williams said.

Chloe Swansen, a freshman environmental science major, said she was surprised, but optimistic about the new police force.

"It might help with solving some of the more minor problems on campus that the Philadelphia police might not be able to deal with right away," Swansen said. "Finally having a division right on campus could make a big difference."

McKnight and Williams' experience add to the diversity of the police force, something both Spangler and Ceccanecchio wanted to emphasize.

"We want our department to be as diverse as possible," Ceccanecchio said. "We posted jobs on monster.com, the Drexel [human resources] Web site and informed different ethnic organizations as well. We wanted applicants from any and all backgrounds."

According to Spangler, the department reached out to different police academies in Pennsylvania, looking for younger candidates as well.

"We wanted a nice mix of youth and experience, so age also added to our diversity as a department," Spangler said.

Ceccanecchio said the department employed a "layered" hiring process in order to find the "best possible candidates."

According to Ceccanecchio, a selection committee made up of different campus organizations first reviewed all applications.

Then, Spangler and Ceccanecchio interviewed the applicants. Those who received a job offer then had background checks and psychological tests done.

After being hired, the officers were put through a five-week orientation, during which they underwent sensitivity training, including a talk on racial profiling from a state police captain, according to Ceccanecchio.

The officers also had firearms, self-defense and tactical training.

This article has been corrected.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools