Something for Westchester to consider?

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RCC campus security gets more powers

By SARAH NETTER

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: December 24, 2007)

The job description for five Rockland Community College security officers has gotten a little beefier.

After a lot of debate, the county Legislature has approved five positions the college will turn into peace officer spots.

No new jobs have been created, but the five new peace officers would have more authority than security officers, though still less than police officers. They will have the authority to make arrests, detain suspects and write summonses.

"Campus security is an issue among all colleges across the country," RCC President Cliff Wood said.

While the April massacre of more than 30 students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University put a spotlight on campus safety, Wood said the college had been trying to get peace officers for a few years.

The positions are in response to an initiative pushed by the State University of New York, which includes RCC and more than two dozen other community colleges.

About half the community colleges in the state already have peace officers, Wood said; he plans for all 12 of RCC's security officers to become peace officers in the next two years.

But while the Legislature supported creating the position, some legislators said too many details have not been hashed out.

Because the college is on county-owned property, law enforcement there has been handled by the Sheriff's Department.

Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, said that, on his request, the Legislature was presented with a memorandum of understanding between the college and the Sheriff's Department establishing jurisdiction and duty.

But Day said that understanding was incomplete and didn't detail who would head command during a major incident.

Still, he voted for the resolution because the county Legislature was asked only to vote on those five positions, not with facilitating an agreement between the college and the Sheriff's Department.

"Overall - it's a good thing to do," Day said about upgrading to peace officers.

Legislator David Fried, D-Spring Valley, had similar concerns, but while he agreed with the measure's intent, he voted against it, saying it wasn't "mature" enough to go forward.

"To me the memorandum of understanding that was provided for us was a good first step," he said.

Fried pointed out that responses to some of the country's recent tragedies, including the Virginia Tech shootings and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, were made worse by poor communication.

But Wood said the college and Sheriff's Department had always had a memorandum of understanding and that in major incidents the college would defer to the sheriff.

"We've always had a relationship with the Sheriff's Department," he said.

Wood said the five men who will be designated as peace officers have already been trained and are "ready to go."

Sheriff James Kralik could not be reached for comment Friday.

About 6,800 students are enrolled at Rockland Community College, and the campus hosts thousands more people during the year for events. The school employs about 160 full-time and 280 part-time workers, Wood said.