ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
Virginia Tech police shed their powder-blue uniforms three years ago for dark navy ones - the same style many professional officers across the country wear.
It was one change among hundreds that marked the force's three-year quest for national accreditation and the opportunity to dispel the rent-a-cop image most university officers battle.
The department reached its goal this year after an on-site inspection team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. spent four days in November poring over the department's records, riding on patrol and inspecting the changes the department spent three years documenting.
Chief Mike Jones has spent 27 years with the force - the last 6 1/2 as its leader. He said the accreditation required the department to meet about 350 standards, all of which had to be documented. Changes encompassed things as relatively minor as replacing the stripes on police cars with reflective tape to the major undertaking of computerizing offense records as far back as 1985.
"You can ask us about anything going on on campus and we can look it up," Jones said. "If I need to know how many times someone spit on the ground in front of Burruss Hall, I can find out."
Now Tech's force - with 34 sworn officers and 12 support staff - is one of only three universities statewide, and 14 nationwide, that has earned accreditation. It is the second police department, behind Blacksburg's, to be accredited in the New River Valley.
Accreditation recognizes the department as being no different than Blacksburg police or state police in its standards of quality for delivering police services, Jones said. It has improved officers' morale but more importantly, Jones said, the relationship between the police and faculty is now one of increased respect.
"We have a close working relationship with the university. Our people are constantly being asked to speak around campus ... we've become an integral part of the academic community," Jones said.
Richard Alvarez, director of public safety, said he is proud of the entire department.
"It took a tremendous effort by everyone in the department; my hat's off to the them," Alvarez said.
Ann Spencer, associate vice president of personnel and administrative services, said this recognition raised respect for the department among faculty and staff a notch.
"This recognition instilled a higher level of professionalism that we hold in very high regard," she said. "I commend them for undertaking this during tight financial times."
But is the campus safer?
The police chief cautioned anyone from assuming that the campus where up to 40,000 people visit daily is completely safe because anything can happen anywhere. However, the reported crimes on campus have dropped recently, he said.
In 1993, the state's Uniform Crime Report showed Tech reported 500 crimes in categories such as larceny, burglary, rape and robbery. In 1994, the number dropped to 408, 86 percent of which were thefts.
The department has made so many improvements, according to Jones, it's difficult to cover them all.
Denise Linkenhoker spent the last two years as the department's full-time accreditation manager. As she cradled three large notebooks with detailed documents on the department's accreditation, Linkenhoker said maintaining the accreditation status will require 40 reports annually. Highlights of the changes include:
Creating a bicycle patrol on campus;
Adding a second floor to double the size of headquarters;
Doubling the size and staff of the communication center and upgrading its enhanced 911 system to expand the description of the location where a call originated;
Improved communications equipment in police cars, including scanners so officers can hear other departments and cellular phones. The phones actually saved money, Jones said. Originally the department bought just three phones, he said, and quickly saw about a $6,000 drop in the gasoline bill. Jones said about 80 percent of the approximately 56,000 calls dispatchers field each year require an officer to return a call. Now dispatchers transfer those calls directly to officers, eliminating a return to the office.
Better access to training has resulted in several resident experts in areas such as accident investigation, photography, firearms, defensive driving and crime prevention.
"Officer training is second to none," Jones said. "Our officers are allowed to go anywhere to any school to get training if it will reflect a benefit back to the department."
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Virginia Tech Police Officer Debbie Morgan works theby CNBcampus on her bike, which offers several advantages over a patrol
car. color GENE DALTON STAFF