Ramsey Kincannon
News Editor
Since the heated forum on Tuesday, Oct. 25, The College of Wooster has taken several steps in addressing several student concerns about Security and Protective Services (SPS).
One of the most suggested changes proposed to combat the increased number of incidents with Wooster community members has been to augment the number of security officers. In the last six years, the number of security officers has fluctuated, according to Christie Kracker, associate dean of students, between nine and 11. This year, the college has employed 11 full-time and one part-time officers. Wooster is in the process of searching for another part-time officer, and there’s a “request [to the President’s committee] in currently for another full-time position,” according to Kracker.
Several students also feel that security has been over-zealous in their response to small incidents. Some students have seen “security hanging out at Mom’s … for the first time,” and others have suggested that security has acted under “false suspicion,” and are being “overaggressive.” Many of these students stopped short of suggesting that the officers are targeting a specific race, and many students believe that SPS consists of “mostly reasonable people.” However, there have been recent reported incidents, according to some students, that have pushed the boundaries of what is considered acceptable behavior.
Students who feel they have been persecuted unfairly are urged to contact Chief Glick, who is “learning the procedure for complaints,” or Joe Kirk, who is more familiar with the process of responding to allegations of bias. Chief Glick acknowledges there have been “[mostly] minor issues,” and stresses that any of these issues would be handled “internally.” Additionally, according to Dean Kracker, and due to the college’s strict hiring policies, candidates who seem likely to discriminate or otherwise abuse their power are weeded out during the selection process.
The college has denied that the hiring of Chief Glick as the Director of Security and Protective Services has signaled a shift in philosophy. When asked to offer an assessment of the change on campus since Glick’s arrival, Kracker impressed that there has been “no change in the priorities or philosophy of the college campus,” and suggested that the reason she accepted her position was because the “judicial process was educational, not punitive.” However, she acknowledged that Chief Glick is still trying to “come up to speed on how a security director responds to problems as opposed to a police officer.” Considering the fact that all types of drug use has increased, Kracker (and S.P.S.’s) goal is to “increase education [of the consequences of drug use] across the board.”