UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 4, Page 7
September 26, 1991
Public Safety training concentrates on cultural diversity

     Public Safety employees recently completed the first cycle of
multicultural awareness sensitivity training aimed at improving
communication between the department and the campus community.
     "The first training segment concentrated on African-Americans,
and during the year, training will focus on other constituencies in
the campus community with whom we come into contact," according to
Lawrence Thornton Jr., associate director of public safety who
chairs the training committee.
     For the first program held in August committee members used
actual campus events involving Public Safety officers and black
students. With the help of black students recruited by the Center
for Black Culture and student members of the planning committee,
Public Safety employees re-enacted, in a role-playing format, such
scenes as a domestic dispute in a residence hall and the
questioning of suspects in an armed robbery.
     "We had good response from all aspects of the training, but by
far the most positive feedback was from the role-playing segment,"
Thornton said.
     "We were able to gain new insights from the students as to how
they viewed the officers and why they had certain responses to
officers' actions. We learned what may be going through a student's
mind, and now that we know what they may be thinking and feeling,
we know some things we can do differently.
     "The students said they learned a lot about the law, about
when officers can approach students and what questions they are, by
law, allowed to ask.
     "They had a lot of questions for us about procedures and what
officers can and can't do. We didn't realize, for example, that
some people don't know the difference between University Police and
Campus Security the people who handle the messenger service and who
perform such duties as locking and unlocking buildings. Police
officers wear blue uniforms and security officers wear gray, but
not everyone knows that," Thornton said.
     "We come into contact with a variety of students and, many
times, that contact is in an emotionally charged or negative
situation.," he said. "We realize that we have to be role models.
We feel very strongly that diversity training has to be a
campuswide issue but we feel we are on the leading edge.
     "Thornton said that the department traditionally takes the
last two weeks in August for in-service training and, in the past,
there has been diversity education, though the format has not been
consistent.
     As a result of the training, Thornton said the department
hopes to develop closer ties to the whole University.
     "We hope we will be seen as a more approachable department and
that we will become more community-oriented," he said. "We hope to
be one of the leaders on campus in terms of diversity.
     "Nearly 120 employees took part in the training, although the
number of hours of involvement varied for different employee
groups. Police officers, security personnel, bus drivers and
clerical staff were all trained. Another 30-40 student aides will
receive training later this month. Assisting with the training were
Lt. James M. Grimes, police manager in public safety; Theodore J.
Davis Jr., assistant professor of political science; Danilo Yanich,
associate policy scientist, urban affairs and public policy; and
Barbara Rexwinkel, associate director, Housing and Residence Life.
     Also helping were three Public Safety employees, who, with
Grimes, completed the University's diversity education training:
investigators Vincent N. Shipman and Garrett Thomas Moore and
police officer Vickie Moore.
     The training has affirmed Thornton's belief that "when you can
get down to a personal level, one-on-one, it makes all the
difference.
     "If enough people in this department can get to know people
throughout the campus, we can make a start at eliminating rumors
and half-truths," Thornton said.
                                        - Beth Thomas