Years ago, University Police Sgt. John Cassady proposed a novel idea for the campus — training university employees and city residents to be on the lookout for potential crime and to report incidents that occur.
But the program never gained momentum until Chief David Mitchell’s arrival last June. Operation Community on Patrol began the following April, and University Police officials said it has helped contribute to a lower number of person-on-person crimes on the campus this year. The icing on the cake, officers said, was winning two honors at the 32nd Annual Governor’s Crime Prevention Awards last week for providing personal, residential and commercial security and for significantly improving crime prevention through the campaign.
The COP program taught 39 university employees in various departments to identify, evaluate and report suspicious activities. Next semester, it will teach other university employees to do the same. It was the first university program launched in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s First Observer campaign to educate the community about potential terrorist activities in the area, University Police spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky said.
Mitchell said the COP program was one of many initiatives that helped contribute to fewer crimes so far this year.
According to Limansky, from Jan. 1 to date, there have been 26 reported assaults on the campus and two reported armed robberies. Last year, there were 55 reported assaults and eight reported on-campus armed or strong armed robberies.
“I don’t have scientific proof, but I think anytime we encourage people to report what’s happening, I think it’s helpful,” Mitchell said. “Clearly, with the apprehensions we’ve been making through our investigations and our feedback we’ve been putting out to the community, I think it’s encouraging for people to see and say that they’ll step up and do their part.”
Cassady coordinated COP with University Police Capt. Bob Mueck, who said he was happy to see the state recognize the department’s work — University Police was one of 14 state departments to win the Category A award for Law Enforcement Agencies and one of eight programs to win the Category D award for Outstanding Proactive Crime Prevention Programs.
“We really appreciate that we’re receiving an award from such a high level,” Mueck said.
University President Wallace Loh also lauded the police efforts, but noted while their work undoubtedly contributed to the decrease in crime, they may not have been the only factor.
“There’s many reasons why crime goes up and crime goes down, and from the point of view of safety of students and neighborhoods, all they care about is that crime goes down,” Loh said. “I don’t think as a scientific matter, because the [University] Police Department [implemented new initiatives], nobody can say that’s why crime went down. But as a practical matter, it did go down, and the police have been very proactive in trying to bring it down.”
Police said they plan to continue previous initiatives and launch new ones to keep on-campus crime rates low. The university will require new and future employees to participate in a one-hour block of instruction to learn the COP program’s “ITALK” strategy, Limansky said.
Once a crime has occurred, it teaches employees to identify themselves, provide the time of the incident, give a description of the activity, provide the location and attempt to observe without endangering their personal safety or anyone else’s.
University Police also created patrol sectors last semester, making officers accountable for defined areas of the campus — a system that empowered officers and contributed to the drop in crime on the campus, Mitchell said.
“When you’re given a patrol area of responsibility, and something happens in your area, you take that personally and take that to heart,” Mitchell said. “It’s all about pride and getting to know the people in your area, and I think that, coupled with the [COP program], all creates a greater good.”
Senior staff writer Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report.
egan@umdbk.com
