3/1/2012: That’s my guess. Last year Doug Tripp and Frances Dyke told the faculty – and the legislature – that campus police were going to save UO $73,000. And you wonder why Johnson Hall has negative credibility. Here are the last ten years of DPS spending, from the Financial Transparency Banner tool:
2002-03 $1,607,012
2003-04 $1,612,250
2004-05 $1,733,536
2005-06 $1,789,688
2006-07 $2,427,713
2007-08 $2,166,847
2008-09 $3,073,604
2011-12 $4,287,098
$2.6 million, growth over 10 years, nearly tripling their budget. But now that the conversion to sworn police is starting, things are really going to get expensive. Word down at the Baron’s Den is that UO has hired a $10,000 a month consultant (a retired Eugene police captain) to plan how to spend all that money. Becky Metrick of the ODE has some news on the 6 year plan that is being put together. That will be an interesting budget to see.
HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST EMPLOYEES TO PARK NEXT YEAR $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Why do we need these police??? I just see them parked in SUV’s browsing the internet on their laptops all day long.
NO wonder central services is in such a hole. Throwing money around and not budgeting in advance. Live within your means. Quit scheming of ways to to finagle tuition money from academic programs.
If you are paranoid there can never be enough spent on ‘public safety’ . As my good friend and colleague Aristotle points out ‘some people always wanted more, until there was no limit to their demands”
Hard to believe that the Administration isn’t making an effort to explain the rationale for these huge increases in policing expenditures. Maybe the previous crews — Dave, the Hat, Frances, Beano — were too tone-deaf. But what about Bob? Oh, he’s probably too busy worrying about everything else — George, Kitz, Phil, the bozo Legislature, plus the students and the union.
This plan will put the Administration in charge of law enforcement decisions- like who will be charged and with what, if anything.
The Administration will decide which cases are referred to the Eugene city prosecutor and the Lane County DA and when.
Unfortunately time is of the essence in solving these cases.Expertise is also needed.Cases will be lost as a result of this.
Based on the comment about, there may be something more sinister going on. By turning campus police into real police, that will let the university decide when to refer cases to DA’s?? So if particular students get in trouble with the Campus Police, rather than having local police take over an prosecute cases, the campus police might turn a blind eye to what was going on? Don’t tell me they won’t feel pressure from particular departments on campus (say the athletic) to give preferential treatment to particular students???
Say it ain’t so….
If the U of O is going to spend this much money on police, the least it could do is harness the drinking power of students and go back to being a wet campus with beer served at some central, well-lit, well-attended venue. At least some serious money could be made back and the police would have something to do other than give people riding their bikes past the stop sign near the Collier House a ticket.
Just wait. In the near future you will be pulled over by a campus cop for going 18 mph in a 15 mph zone. They give out tickets and sell expensive parking permits.
Revenue generation. That is their primary mission.
I understand that OSU spends much less and has a very competent team of Oregon State Police staff as well as a very strong group of public safety officers and dispatch personnel. I am told that they spend less than $3M a year on the whole operation. There must be some disconnect because OSU gets all the services of OSP in the cost…SWAT, detectives, forensics….hum!
Maybe that is why OSP will be laying off Troopers again… I dont understand why this state and county has such a huge problem funding public safety.