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UMaine students can go back to worrying about finals and leave Public Safety to worry about their safety. Public Safety officials said there are plenty of officers on campus to look out for everyone.
Despite budget cuts that have lead to a campus-wide hiring freeze, Public Safety interim Director Charles P. Chandler, Jr. said the performance of the department or the safety of the campus has not been compromised.
“The hiring moratorium has not affected the hiring of a director of Public Safety,” Chandler said. “I believe this is due in large part to the search [for a director] beginning several months before the moratorium came along. Whatever the reason, I am extremely grateful.”
Noel C. March was named as the new director of Public Safety last week and will begin work on Jan. 1, 2002.
Chandler said all of the other positions in Public Safety are filled, which means students should not be worried about a decrease in the number of officers on campus.
“There are as few as two and as many as eight police officers on duty at the same time, depending on the time of day and the day of the week,” Chandler said.
For instance, Friday evening and Saturday morning from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m., there are eight officers on duty. But from 4 a.m. until 7 a.m. on those same days there are generally only two officers on duty.
In addition, he said Public Safety remains vigilant about campus security.
“We are also paying closer attention to the physical security devices that are around the campus,” he said. “Our officers continue to be alert and aware, and make their presence known, which is a further deterrent [to crime],” Chandler said.
Public Safety also continues to offer personal safety classes to students and for residence hall programs by request.
