It’s crucial that the campus community be able to contact and seek assistance from campus police, but it’s proving to be more difficult than necessary at OCU.
There seems to be a disconnect between policies, staffing and general disposition among the officers on campus. Police Chief Jennifer Rodgers has made it a point in her time as chief to encourage students to contact Oklahoma City University Police Department in any situation that makes them feel concerned or uncomfortable. It’s clear that she wants students to feel protected, but not all employees of the OCU police department seem to be as dedicated to this idea.
Students tell stories of times when they were ignored or given questionable advice when they called OCUPD.
For example, a student was unable to get into Cokesbury Court Apartments in the middle of the night during a recent snow storm because the keypad had frozen over. The student called OCUPD’s “Never Walk Alone” program so they could help her get in, but was told to park in a nearby neighborhood and walk back to her apartment in Cokesbury instead.
Students also said they’ve called OCUPD and were snapped at or ignored. Another student said she was put on hold for almost 15 minutes in an emergency situation. While it’s not the job of OCUPD to make students feel respected and comfortable, snapping at students and having a lack of immediacy could potentially prevent them from coming forward with helpful information or reports of emergencies.
Another student claimed to have gotten permission from one officer to temporarily park in a visitor spot because she had a flat tire. When she came back, her car had a ticket on it from a different officer who was unaware of the previous exchange. When the student called the police department to appeal the ticket, she said she was accused of being “immature” and told she was “just trying to get out of purchasing a parking pass.”
The two main issues seem to be communication and general lack of empathy for the students. These aspects don’t make students feel safe and may make them forgo reporting problems on campus. A sense of trust can’t be established like this.
Students must also respect that the officers are busy and may be responding to multiple emergencies at one time. But busy doesn’t have to mean complacent.
Animosity in any direction does not promote a healthy, safe campus environment.
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