The Department of Public Safety is an operation that has had many faces throughout the years.

In the 1980s, Syracuse University’s campus police force was known as SU Security. It was able to do checks on property and had little interaction with students.

Less than 10 years later, SU Security became the Department of Public Safety in response to rises in enrollment, city crime and poverty. It was also granted limited law force powers; it could use pepper spray, arrest students and use police batons.

“It was the first phase of moving toward becoming a real campus law enforcement organization,” said DPS Chief Tony Callisto.

Then in 2004, after the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre, DPS began carrying firearms — a step Callisto said was taken to allow officers to protect themselves and the community.

Later this year, DPS will undergo a more physical transformation as it changes its uniforms.  A patch will be added to the left arm, “DPS” will be featured in non-reflective lettering on the back of the uniform and the name will also be added above the right front pocket. DPS considered changing the color of their pants, but Callisto said that would cost nearly $50,000. It will cost around $15,000 to add patches to their uniforms, he said.

The changes were made after the fight outside of the Schine Student Center last spring. A student reported that officers used excessive force during the incident, but because the uniforms between DPS and the Syracuse Police Department were so similar, SU was unable to determine if the incident involved a DPS or SPD officer. After several discussions, Callisto said DPS and SPD determined a uniform change would help improve distinction between the two.

Without the current uniforms, DPS and SPD are nearly identical, Callisto said, adding that they are indistinguishable except for the silver patch.

Even when the uniforms are shown side by side, it hard for students to tell which is which. Fifty students were shown a photo of the current DPS uniform next to an SPD uniform and were asked to identify which belonged to whom. Thirty-three of the students surveyed incorrectly identified the photos. Several of them didn’t know DPS could carry a firearm.

But if a student were in a chaotic situation, such as the incident in Schine, the uniforms could be even harder to distinguish, said Sam Gorovitz, a professor of philosophy.

“If you were to go to a busy, fast-moving situation, you’d be less likely to discern a difference,” Gorovitz said.

Students would be more distracted in a real situation than if they’re able to study the photos, he said.

Alray Cromer, a student involved in the Schine fight, said he was able to differentiate between the two because he recognized a few of the DPS officers.

“For most people, you’re in a panic mode, so you might be able to mix it up because of that,” said Cromer, a senior communications and health and exercise science major. “It’s hard to tell because the uniforms are very closely related.”

The misconceptions go beyond the uniforms, Cromer said. Some students perceive DPS as a joke, feeling more concerned when SPD responds to the scene, he said.

Though DPS can arrest students and carry firearms, SPD still often responds to incidents on campus. SPD Sgt. Gary Bulinski said DPS’s expanded powers have increased its partnership with city police. DPS can arrest a student and hold them for a certain period of time, but must transport them to SPD’s police station to be charged.

When the issue of DPS carrying firearms came up 10–15 years ago, David Potter, former associate dean of student services in the College of Arts and Sciences, he said he was originally opposed to the idea. But after attending meetings among faculty, staff and administration, Potter decided it wasn’t “unreasonable” for DPS to carry guns.

Before the expanded powers, DPS could only physically apprehend someone exhibiting illegal behavior. They would then have to wait for the “real police” to show up and take over, Potter said. Leaving officers unarmed was not an option, he said.

“We are not a small country college with a couple hundred students,” Potter said. “We are an urban university in a city that has a serious crime problem…our students are exposed to substantial risks and students take a while to realize that our campus is not as safe as it looks.”

Since their powers expanded, Callisto said DPS officers have only had to draw a gun for three recorded incidents. DPS makes around 100 arrests per year and averages about two per week, Callisto said.

Potter said this demonstrates that DPS officers are exercising their powers with restraint. He added that there are some police officers who have served for 20–30 years who have never had to draw their gun.

“If you have a very small negligible number of cases, why shouldn’t we rejoice in that?” Potter said.

DPS officers should also consider how they inform students about their ability to carry weapons, Potter said. But he added that the SU community should also reflect upon why they think DPS officers should not be able to carry weapons.

“I suspect there are a number of members of the community who just have close to a knee-jerk reaction to anyone but regular cops having guns,” Potter said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask members of our community to professionally protect us all but tell them not to carry weapons.”

With the expanded powers, DPS Chief Callisto said SPD is able to deal with city crimes more efficiently. Before the expanded powers, they might have to respond to at least 67,000 calls for service per year but only around 25,000 of them might be actionable. Now, DPS can help to share the workload.

DPS and SPD respond to calls on campus with different approaches, Callisto said. SPD typically arrives to arrest someone and then leaves, while Callisto said DPS will try to use community policing. The new uniforms will only help maintain DPS’ presence on campus and allow SPD to keep controlling city crime, Callisto said.

He said DPS responds to calls with students’ best interests in mind, but is prepared to deal with situations with the same tactics SPD would.

Said Callisto: “But at the end of the day, we’re going to want people to know it’s us.”

Published on February 24, 2014 at 1:48 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu