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Farewell to the Force: Campus Police Downgraded to Security Guards
by Derek Hodges
Chief Ingram out of uniform following the order to disarm
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The Mars Hill College Campus Police Department, for years an institution at the college, has been disarmed and renamed. The campus is now protected by the college's own Campus Security Department, and the department has an almost entirely new look from the old campus police.
Dean of Student Life Craig Goforth, who has been responsible for the Campus Police Department since he took the job as dean, announced to the campus community in late October that the department would be disbanding. The officers who were already on staff would be invited to stay on in the new campus security office that would be formed.
The switch was meant to have little effect on the department. The college's decision to run its own security force meant it could keep its own people and run the new department in much the same way as the old one. However, since that time there has been a major staff turnover, with three of four officers leaving.
Officers Teresa Brewer and Helen Redd have left for other jobs, and Assistant Chief Thomas Fulmer will work his last shift on Christmas Eve. He has taken a job with the Weaverville Police Department.
Since the change, Chief of Campus Police David Ingram and Officer Aaron Budhisetiawan have been the only constants in the department. Ingram has been with the department for at least 16 years, Goforth told the Hilltop. Jan Caldwell, who had been the department's office manager, has been hired to work as a security guard. Her former position will be filled by student interns. Budhisetiawan will also be a security guard. Goforth said he is interviewing candidates for at least one security guard position.
While the officers were asked by Goforth to not comment on the situation, one officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, did confirm that the shift from a police force to a security force was the reason the officers were leaving.
Many security companies will hire anyone over the age of eighteen. Some companies require a high school diploma or equivalent and a background check before employment. Additionally some offer limited training to their officers, but it is not near the level of an actual police officer.
Goforth says he has some standards he would like to see met in any candidate for a job in the security office, but those requirements are not set in stone. He says he would like for new officers to have at least a two-year degree, two years of experience in law enforcement, military, or security work, and a clear criminal record.
However, Goforth says he does not always expect to meet those requirements. He admits that he is sometimes forced to take a "good person" and train them into being a good officer.
In stark contrast, becoming a police officer takes extensive training. Police officers are also armed, while many security officers are not. Police officers also have the power to arrest a suspect or a person who gets out of hand. Security officers cannot arrest. They can only "detain" a suspect until the local authorities arrive.
The decision to make the change was made by several top administrators, including Goforth, Vice President of Marketing and Administration Bob McLendon, and College President Dan Lunsford. Goforth insists the change was only motivated by the college's struggling financial situation.
In July, McLendon was told by the college's insurance broker that the college would face an increase in its rates because the campus police department was armed. At that time McLendon asked the officers to surrender their guns while he tried to work out a deal with the insurance carriers that would make arming campus police more affordable.
The officers never saw their guns again. Administrators decided that it would save money to change from campus police force to a campus security force. With the change, the officers lost their guns, their certification as a police department in North Carolina, their power of arrest, the ability to write tickets for traffic violations, and their black uniforms, which have been replaced with the powder-blue shirts of a security force, among other things. They do still have pepper spray and the ability to issue parking tickets.
Goforth said he does not feel the change is inhibiting the department's ability to do its job. "I have confidence that the department can continue to do its job and to protect the people and resources of Mars Hill College. It has been a difficult transition," he said.
In addition to the change, Goforth has now announced to the campus that the department will be moved to the basement of Wren Student Union, in the space now held by the offices of student publications, including the Hilltop, the Laurel, and the Cadenza. No decision has been made yet as to where the student publications will be housed.
Goforth said the decision to move the office was one of convenience. "It will be easier for me as their administrator," he said, referring to the fact that the office will now be located in the same building as his office.
"They will share some of the administrative support here in Wren. And the students are already in this building. They can take care of all issues in this building now," he said.
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