Spring Break
"Student Town Hall Meeting" held to discuss campus issues
Natalie Jurgen
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
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Moderated by ECU SGA president, Andrew Griffin, students had an opportunity to voice their questions to both the ECU police department and members of the Athletic Department.
Chief of Police, Scott Shelton, kicked off the event with an overview of the ECU police department. Shelton informed the crowd that he joined ECU's police staff in March of 2008 and has only been with the department for about six months.
The ECU police department has 62 sworn police officers, all of which have received training at the Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy. Upon hiring, these officers are not placed immediately on the street, but first undergo a 12-week field-training program to become familiar with ECU's campus and its procedures.
Sergeant Stormer, of the crime prevention unit and supervisor of the student patrol unit, next addressed the crowd on the importance of the resident hall liaison program. In this program officers are assigned to one of the 15 residence halls and work to form a relationship with the residents in the event of an emergency.
"We want to have an open relationship with the students," Stormer said. "We are being very proactive in our approach and are not trying to wait for a situation to arise."
Sergeant Carnevale, the community affairs sergeant in charge of the off-campus population, then spoke about the importance of protecting the some 80 percent of students that live off-campus.
"We work very closely with the Greenville police department," Carnevale said. "We want to implement our services to the various apartment complexes and neighborhoods that we weren't reaching directly."
Carnevale also runs the self-defense classes offered by the ECU police department. The 12-hour, four evening course is both educational and hands-on and offers a high-stress simulation where students utilize everything they learned from the class.
"The class is very empowering and we've seen such a transformation," Carnevale said.
The free monthly classes are open to both male and female students, faculty and staff.
Following the overview of the police department, the forum was opened up for students to ask questions.
A number of students raised questions and concerns regarding the Sept. 6 ECU-WVU football game. Shelton was asked to address the game and what will be done to prevent similar problems in the future.
"We need to work with you to understand the issues and educate students," Shelton said. "We must work hand-in-hand to develop programs to assist in keeping you safe."
Shelton recognized that law enforcement from other areas may respond differently to situations in an unfamiliar environment and for that reason ECU will no longer be using officers from outside Pitt County.
Shelton also emphasized the importance of examining the steps that need to be taken for the next game. He said he doesn't believe that increasing the staff level is necessarily the way to improve safety but rather utilizing the event staff in a more effective manner.
ECU director of athletics, Terry Holland, said at the forum yesterday that he is "convinced that those who stormed the field had the very best intentions and truly care about ECU athletics."
Holland suggested that ECU students find ways of celebrating that are safer.
"I've never seen a crowd connect with the people on the field as I did Saturday," Holland said. "That is very special and we need to protect that in any way we can."
ECU police plan to hold a similar forum once a month to maintain their relationship with the students and have a proactive approach so similar problems don't arise in the future.
This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.
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