Campus Security Update

We are writing to update you on several actions we have taken in response to this weekend's events and conversations we have had with students.

First, security officers began wearing incident recording devices again on Monday, April 13. (You may recall that the College used these devices for a Trial period from November, 2007 through March, 2008.) The use of recording devices will be subject to the guidelines established for the 2007-2008 trial program. Specifically:

• Officers have been instructed to activate the recorder upon arriving at the scene of a complaint or when approaching a situation that may require an incident report. The officer will announce that the interaction is being recorded.
• If an officer has not determined that the conversation needs to be recorded and a student requests the recorder be activated, the officer will do so.
• Non-incident recordings and undisputed recordings will be erased within 7 days.
• Recordings from disputed incidents will be retained until the case is closed.
• Initial recordings will be monitored by members of the Dean of Students Office and the Director of Security.
• Recordings will be used to clarify disagreements between a student and Security staff to determine the facts of a case. The recordings may be used as evidence for education and disciplinary sanctions for both students and Security staff.

The recording program will be reviewed with the College Affairs Committee at its next meeting.

Second, the work assignments for security officers involved in Sunday morning's incident have been adjusted. Officers have been a) scheduled for daytime or evening shifts and/or assigned to work on a two-person team with an officer who was not involved in Sunday's incident.

Finally, the College's investigation—conducted by Paul Johnston and Joe Atkins (Dean of Students Office) and Richard Nale (Human Resources)—is continuing. They have interviewed a number of students and staff over the last few days and are eager to meet students who have information to share about the incident. If you have information regarding the incident, please contact Dean of Students Office to schedule an appointment (ext 4252).

Sincerely,
James Terhune
Vice President for Student Affairs
Dean of Students

Douglas Terp
Vice President for Administration