When students return next semester after winter break, University Police will have a new chief. Ken Krouse, who has commanded the department since 1989, will retire at the end of this year. Maj. Mark Sparks will temporarily fill Krouse’s position until a new chief is selected. But before the search committee makes a selection, Annapolis should examine Krouse’s departure as a unique opportunity to save money.
Six years ago, the Commission on the Structure and Efficiency of State Government issued a report laying out ways the state could cut costs and become more productive. One suggestion was consolidating the police departments of the 11 institutions in the University System of Maryland. This would allow a unified department to save money by sharing recruitment and training costs and making joint equipment purchases. Plus, the need for one chief would mean fewer high-salary employees.
But there are plenty of reasons the report’s recommendations haven’t been implemented. It’s not logistically possible for one police chief to be responsible for departments stretching from Salisbury to College Park to Towson to Frostburg. If crises broke out simultaneously at two campuses, the chief would somehow have to manage both operations.
And police chief is anything but a ceremonial position. As the department’s top official, he or she is responsible for most administrative and management tasks, like hiring and firing officers, and is the final decision-maker. It would be difficult for one person to be the decider for all the campuses.
But before dismissing the report entirely, the state should consider changing the structure of the university police departments entirely to mirror that of the state police. Doing so would eliminate the jobs of several police chiefs, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. In their place, a lone superintendent would oversee each institution’s department, which would instead be structured like a state police barrack. Each campus would have a barrack with a commander, holding the rank of major or lieutenant colonel, who would lead the police forces on that campus and make decisions previously made by the police chief, but they would ultimately report to the superintendent.
Reworking of the state’s higher education police forces would simplify and strengthen the university system. Training, uniforms and equipment would be identical and forces could be shared in emergencies, driving down costs over time. The leftover funds could then be used for the system’s central mission: educating students.
Ultimately, educating students should be what’s most important for the university system. It’s likely administrators will merge several academic departments here as a result of the fiscal downturn. Any possible cost-saving measures that don’t impact education should be made before class sizes skyrocket or departments are eliminated. Safety would remain the primary concern, but it can still be achieved under different structures.
There’s no doubt such a massive restructuring would be alarming. But the university system in New York has consolidated its police department, and in the Old Line State, the Maryland Port Authority Police merged with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police in 1998.
The General Assembly should take a second look at the commission’s report and examine the feasibility of merging the departments. Options for cutting costs without sacrificing services are out there — sometimes they just require a second look.
