The dispatcher must monitor radio transmissions , answer telephone
calls and watch the fire board above him.
Emphas
BySTEVE IVEY
Collegian Staff Writer
Hidden behind Ritenour Health Center are three
small, wood-framed cottages housing the University's;
security forces. Their role has not always been so
solemn originally they were the homes of Penn
State’s sororities.
Just as the buildings have changed, so have its
inhabitants, the Department of. Security.
On April i, David E. Stormier became the third
director of Security since 1970. Hired with a mandat;e
for change, Stormer received Friday the green light
from the Board of Trustees to reorganize the depart
ment.-He started by changing the name to the
Department of University Safety.
According to Stormer, “good law enforcement
basically boils down to being abie to work with people
and work with people with problems. When a persmn
has suffered an injury, an assault, or an affront,, it
requires a person wjtha wide background to deal w -ith
him.”
Stormer’s background includes an associate of arts
degree from Northwestern Michigan College, a
bachelor of science degree in police administration and
a master of science degree from Michigan State
University. From 1961 ,to 1971 he,served with the
Department of Public Safety at Michigan State. He
rose from patrolman to assistant police command er in
those 10 years, ,
From Michigan Stormer took~his wife and three
children to Ohio State University, where b<e: was
assistant director of the security forces.
Stormer said he renamed Penn State’s Security
Department the Department of University Safety
because safety is the most important reason ifor the
Narcotics officer Govedi jeps a trophy case
of seized drug paraphernalia.
I i •
J i ./
- K
H ,
s on community service
department's existence. -
“When we are talking about safety, it can be taken
two ways: protecting someone from the environment
and protecting the individual from other individuals or
groups,” he said. 1
When the reorganization is fully implemented in two
or three years, one -of its main features will lie
professional investigators and personnel )
Entrance requirements will include a bachelor’s
degree or at least two years of edfiege and two years of
practical police work. According' to Stormer, officers
"should have some knowledge of psychology and
sociology which will help them understand individual
and group conflicts.!'
“I consider law enforcement education and exposure
in the community a very high priority,” Stormer ex
plained. -
"Law enforcement is a service to the community,
and the officer should reflect the community,” he said.
Officers who deal with the-University*s population
“should understand some of the problems, some of the
emotions and some of the stress times the population
encounters due to its direction education.” Stormer
said he sees education as a .means of getting officers
more in touch with the peculiar realities of the
University community.
Another part of the reorganization includes com
bining Campus Patrol, the Security Division and the
Student Division into two line organizations with two
supporting divisions. ; ' .
The line organizations will be Police Services and
Safety Services, while Auxiliary Services and the
Coordinator of Security at the Commonwealth Cam
puses will make up the supporting divisions. ; !
"While prevention and investigation of occupational
>pO
' ■mm*..**’
: A w
* /VI
•v
accidents, fire and the providing of a safe
environment are the primary responsibilities of the
Safety Division, the Pcmce Division will provide the
wide variety of law enforcement services necessary in
the University setting,” Stormer said.
One vital non-enforcement function to start under
Stormer’s reorganization is the community relations
program. He cited on-going community relations and
rapid technological and social change as the Depart
ment’s major problems. Because of the built-in turn
over of the University’s population, community
relations must constantly tell new people old things,
such as protection ttn thefts.
Theft is the most frequently, but
Stormer said the beiflray fo handle thefts is preven
tion. This can be done"by on-going community relations
nrograms to encourage dorm students' to challenge
strangers walking ort their floor.
Above all, Stormer said, "The Department of Safety
is a service organization.”
The Department has become more open to the
community and the press. Asked if he will employ
informers or undercover agents, Stormer said that
covertly ferreting out information “would generally be
viewed as wrong by the community and therefore it
would not be done, Nor will I pay a student or someone
else for the information they provide. It is a civic duty
for people to report violations of the law. To have to
pay someone to do his civic duty is repulsive to me.”
Asked about files on politically active students, he
said “there should not be any such files."
Most of the officers. seem pleased with the
reorganization and with Stormer’s work so far. One
officer called Stormer “a hell of a guy. In three months
he has accomplished any others director.”
jf •'''''“s C *»•*»
F* yi '?jfc«aaS ‘I S} ‘ :
*UaJ» : | \ms ij
« iv ?■ * j
£ j . ■ * "I
| I | H t# |Hf * •..>•! 11 V |
Files —one of few guarded aspects
, §' |s 'l”il Is
<3 | - t * *
Safety Director David E. Sformer
The Dally Collegian. .Wednesday, July 25,1973—3
of the present security system
V
'i; 2*sesfi |
I' ”‘g '
if!
if*
V
Hfev
ipu-*;
13 1
i
%
'M*
Photos Sy Steve Ivey-
ijj |