at the UO Police Force meeting today, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Feb 2, in the Fir Room of the EMU:
1) As you know your previous two hires as DPS Director did not have their contracts renewed, under odd circumstances. The first was Richard Turkiewicz, whom you hired from his position as University of Central Florida campus police chief.
That hire took place while Turkiewicz was under investigation for his role in the accidental shooting death of an armed University of Central Florida officer, during a botched attempt to curtail underage drinking at a bowl game. This case exemplifies why attempts to stop underage drinking is a futile and needless endeavor. There are many avenues to getting a fake ID, websites like Idmoose.com allow students to acquire false identification documents easily. In some cases, it can be cheaper than getting legitimate identification. Even with nanny-state laws and the threat of violence from overbearing cops, students want to party like adults and will continue to utilize idgod fake ids to that end.
The officer, in plainclothes, and in the process of trying to arrest an underage student, drew his weapon, pointed it at the student’s head, and then fired it into the air. The campus officer was then shot and killed, by a nearby city police officer. (http://www.clickorlando.com/news/7165669/detail.html)
Later, UO ODE reporter Ryan Knutson won a prize for his investigative reporting involving expense account abuse by Turkiewicz during his time at UO. Essentially he refused to pay small costs for campus officers to get training on how to deal with mentally disturbed people while spending thousands on a trip to a conference at a Florida golf resort. The article (http://oregonarena.wordpress.com/files/2008/10/dps.pdf) says
Frances Dyke, vice president for finance and administration, approved Turkiewicz’s trip. She declined to comment on the trip or Turkiewicz’s need for attending, but did say that “directors can’t neglect their own professional development because they won’t stay cutting edge if they do.”
Q: Did you know about the shooting incident when you hired Chief Turkiewicz? How did it enter into your hiring decision? What roles did the shooting investigation and the expense account incident play in your decision not to renew Turkiewicz’s contract? What other factors, if any, entered that decision?
2) Your next hire for DPS Director, Kevin Williams, was reassigned from his Director’s position and then left UO, also under odd circumstances.
Q: What can you tell us about those circumstances? Do you feel this hire was a mistake?
3) What sort of process will UO put in place for citizen review of the performance of the DPS Director and the new Security Director? Who will be in charge? Who will be on the committee? Will the meetings and reports be public?
4) What process is UO going to put in place to review incidents such as the shooting death described above? Who will be in charge? Who will be on the committee? Will incidents, complaints, meetings and reports be public?
5) Given your past refusal to answer substantive questions about DPS, why should we believe you now when you say there will be trust and transparency on these issues?
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