Security: give respect to get it

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
March 21, 2007

I was sitting in class a couple weeks ago when my professor relayed a story that sent the students into frenzied laughter and loud approval.

“Are you serious?” said one guy, who set off the chain reaction.

“No surprise there!” remarked a girl sitting towards the back of the class.

“That sounds about right,” a man with a hoodie repeated multiple times.

The story was about how the professor’s car was once stolen – a few yards from the security guard stand on 20th Street.

Whether justified or not, it’s no secret on this campus that a lot of students don’t think too highly of Security. We can speculate on the many reasons for this, offering opinions and facts on both fronts. But the bottom line is security doesn’t help its cause with comments like those I read in the Collegian’s Feb. 14 editorial (“Walking the line: the need for a shuttle from main Campus to Broad Street,” p. 4).

In describing La Salle’s shuttle service (or lack thereof – some may argue), Associate Director of Security Denny Graeber said, “A child would rather have a driver, because the Jeep goes directly to their destination.”

Now, I don’t know the type of inflection that Graeber had in his voice when he said those words, but just his use of the word “child” is troubling to me. In my four years at La Salle, I’ve had a lot of classmates. These individuals have included: parents, married individuals, award-winners, entrepreneurs, models, pregnant women, cancer survivors, full-time workers and even pesky journalists. There’s a large number of immature young adults roaming this campus, but if Graeber thinks the individuals he’s looking out for are children, that’s a problem.

I also found Director of Security Arthur Grover’s comments to be condescending, to a lesser extent. In justifying the limited resources of his escort service, he said, “Students do not like to wait.” Now the Collegian’s editorial already took the wind out of the sails of that comment (i.e. students can’t be late for class), but I found that comment to be quite humorous for another reason. Does anyone, anywhere like to wait? If they do, please let me know. I have laundry.

This isn’t the first time in recent history that Security has made some rather suspect comments in the Collegian. Last year, in what has become the almost-annual “Parking Stinks on Campus” article, Associate Director of Security John Gallagher responded to a number of then Collegian staff reporter Matt Juliano’s questions (like, “How many parking spots are on campus?”) with a “no comment” (“Parking woes left unanswered by administration,” Nov. 16, 2005, p. 8).

In my opinion, it’s these kinds of attitudes that often make Security a laughing stock in situations such as the one I had in my class. And if you have comments like these coming down from the department’s superiors, then what does the rest of the force think? When La Salle students have problems, do many members of security see us as merely whiny children?

Although it’s no fault of their own, I think one of the main problems students have with security, is the fact that they can’t “do anything.”

I mean, let’s face it, I think they’re basically just a glorified deterrent. Every officer has been trained in arrest laws and the crimes code, yet none of them can arrest anyone. Officers also have to obtain a Pennsylvania Act 235 Lethal Weapons Training card, and are allowed to carry a lethal weapon, but none of them actually do. In fact, the Collegian reported two years ago that the University wouldn’t even allow security to carry a “non-lethal” baton for reasons regarding “image.” In addition, just from glancing around our current security force, all this required training doesn’t seem to include age limitations or the president’s physical fitness certificate.

Admittedly, I have no plan to solve this dilemma. Unfortunately, the Collegian doesn’t pay me to take the time out to thoroughly research one either. It’s important to point out also that the La Salle campus, contrary to popular belief, is actually really safe in comparison to this section of Philadelphia. Most of that too, is due to our “deterrent” security, many of whom are dedicated, hard-working people.

But when Security is known more for writing ridiculous parking tickets, arriving late for shuttles and being rather callous in newspaper articles, they’re just not going to get much respect from students.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu