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October 12, 2004
*Letter to the Editor* Students safe and secure
As a student Safety and Security dispatcher and an occasional photographer for the Oracle, I am writing to voice my concern for the way the story about Safety and Security was handled and to ensure readers that the Safety and Security staff is dedicated to campus safety. I understand that the Oracle staff makes a point to bring to light problems on campus in hopes of
improving bad situations. I simply felt that this story did not have all the facts and the way it was presented to the campus instilled more fear than necessary.
As for the refusal of service, our security officers are naturally not able to handle all the situations that police officers are trained and prepared to deal with. This includes areas off of Hamline’s grounds, which are not in our jurisdiction. Technically, the officers have no authority there, but they should and do get called to the scene if an incident occurs just outside of the campus. To assume from the Oracle article that this case was one where a frantic student called for immediate assistance and was carelessly denied because of a technicality would be inaccurate. The dispatcher was responding to the victim’s level of concern during the phone call. The victim was calm during her call with the Safety and Security office and to my understanding, “primarily worried about others’ safety” as the man had already fled the scene and no longer posed a threat to her. With this concern understood, the dispatcher sent both officers on duty over to the scene.
As a student here at Hamline, it would be ridiculous for me to try so hard to defend the credibility of a security office that I thought was lacking in its ability to protect myself or other students. Maybe better decisions could have been made by all, but hindsight truly is 20-20, and I am certain that there were no crucial mistakes that should cause alarm.
Erica Fricke
CLA Junior
Posted by msveum at October 12, 2004 11:38 AM
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