Officers responded to 10,692 calls for service in 2003. While officers generally are committed to the safety and security of staff, faculty and students of the campus, they are directed to focus on drug, alcohol, vandalism and traffic violations.

All patrol officers are expected to enforce traffic laws while on routine patrol. When staffing allows, two officers certified for motorcycle operation focus on traffic safety. They also participate with other law enforcement agencies on special enforcement details both on the campus and in the other jurisdictions.

Patrol staff wrote 738 traffic citations and 63 bicycle citations in 2003.

Because UCSC PD is not staffed with a Crime Prevention officer, patrol officers frequently make community presentations and work with individual departments or buildings to address persistent problems, and to promote crime prevention methods. Officers continued to provide security walks through the main science buildings due to rash of thefts of science equipment. Officers also provided assistance in the placement of security monitoring devices with the labs.

UCSC maintains a resident officer position at Mt. Hamilton Lick Observatory in Santa Clara County. Officer Bill Gehri, who had been in this assignment since 1972, retired in June. A search team succeeded in hiring Mark McDonald from the San Anselmo Police Department and he has been undergoing a series of trainings to maintain the services necessary to the location, such as EMT and fire training courses. Lick Observatory had no FBI Crime Index crimes but Officer McDonald was very busy with stolen vehicle cases and vehicle code violation, as well as having to fight forest fires in the Fall which were ignited by severe thunder and lightening storms.

In August, Officer McDonald was the first person on the scene of a private plane crash on the property adjacent to the observatory. The pilot was airlifted and Officer McDonald provided security for the plane until the arrival of the appropriate investigators.

UCSC’s parking enforcement team was very busy in 2003, in spite of losing one of it’s members mid-year. They continue to provide top level service while dealing with the challenges of construction-related problems and loss of parking lots. The team wrote 32,105 parking citations and booted 268 vehicles of repeat offenders who had five or more unpaid citations that were more than 30 days old.

Kiosk guards screen visitors to campus, provide information, and deny entry to those with no legitimate purpose on campus. They perform this important crime prevention and public service function in all types of weather, between 8:00 PM and 3:00 AM.

Kiosk Guards denied entry to 4,411 vehicles, confiscated 260 fraudulent permits and student ID cards, and issued 1,042 vehicle and bicycle warnings, provided information to 5,148 persons, and answered 14,461 telephone calls.

The new kiosk was completed this past year and now provides an adequate work space for two guards at the same time, computer and phone connections, and storage for reference materials. During the daytime the space is also used by TAPS employees for parking permit sales.

The UCSC Animal Control Officer’s duties include keeping track of and following up on reports of mountain lion sightings, resolving conflicts between humans and wildlife, managing the campus feral cat population, and enforcing the Non-Research Animal On Campus Policy and other state and local ordinances. Since the UCSC campus’ 2000 acres are home to a variety of wild species, the Animal Control Officer spends a great deal of time educating the campus community on how to co-exist with our wild neighbors.

The Animal Control Officer investigated 9 reports of mountain lion sightings in 2003. Her other duties include trapping, socializing and helping to place feral kittens into permanent homes. More information on the UCSC Animal Control Officer can be found at http://www2.ucsc.edu/police/awodut.html.

The dispatch center provides radio dispatching and telephone switchboard services to the campus. It is the answering point for all campus emergency calls including 9-1-1. This unit dispatches the UCSC Police, Parking, and Fire Departments and coordinates ambulance response to the campus. Other services include monitoring security, fire, and telephone system alarms, dispatching physical plant, campus shuttles and housing proctors.

The dispatch center dispatched 10,800 calls for service to the police and fire departments, including 526 fire alarms and 346 security alarms.

Security alarm conversions, from private monitoring companies to the university dispatch center, have been completed. The conversion saves money for campus units, and ensures a faster police response. Also, the center was remodeled to enlarge the functional working area of the two dispatchers.

The Training manager coordinated delivery of 1,139 hours of training to department personnel. Sworn personnel averaged 46 hours of training per person.

The Training section presented several workshops with Training and Development throughout the spring semester, as well as classes in Work Place Violence and Safety. Our Training Manager was sent to an instructor’s school for Racial Profiling and, in turn, presented the material to our officers as well as two other law enforcement agencies.

UCSC PD participated in countywide trainings that were designed to cover incidents in which the agencies might be working together, such as Critical Incident Response, crowd control, felony car stops, and Crime Scene Investigations.

UCSC PD received a grant from Homeland Security, which is being used along with local funds, to convert our communications system from the 800 mhz to VHF. The equipment has arrived and will be installed soon. The new Emergency Response Center planning is nearing completion and construction is scheduled to begin in August. The completion date is scheduled for November 2005.

In July, Chief Jan Tepper retired and moved to Whidbey Island in Washington. UCSC PD also had one sergeant and one officer retire at the same time, causing a series of promotions and new hires.
Currently, the department is updating all of its general orders under a previous arrangement with the Office of the President. The project is expected to be completed in March.