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Linfield College Public Safety receives new, reliable vehicle

Posted by :jprokop On : February 27, 2013
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College Public Safety recently purchased a new vehicle and received iPhone upgrades.

The operating budget allowed it to purchase a Toyota RAV 4 to replace its current vehicle. CPS decided to replace the vehicle because of the high costs that were attached to maintaining it.

“The former [CPS] truck was reaching the end of its service life and was becoming increasingly unreliable,” said Rebecca Wale, director of College Public Safety and Environmental Health and Safety.

CPS partnered with Facilities Services to share the previous vehicle. Facilities can use it on a daily basis, but CPS can still borrow it if needed.

“[It] has more interior space, and is easier to park safely on campus,” Wale said. “[The new car] is also safer for passengers with airbags and safety features, such as anti-lock brakes.”

A College Public Safety officer steps out of the newest CPS vehicle. The car is more sustainable with 64 percent fuel efficiency, which is necessary for the officers’ daily tasks and rounds.

Inside are seat covers and mats that help make it a comfortable ride. There are also emergency supplies in the car.

In addition, the vehicle is 64 percent more fuel-efficient and contributes to Linfield’s sustainability commitment. The officers sometimes drive up to 70 miles per day when they perform their daily tasks.

“A reliable vehicle is important to make sure that CPS is responding to emergencies,” Wale said. “It is important the officers can respond quickly and safely.”

CPS also received new iPhones with its phone upgrade, which allows officers to receive emails while on duty and have connection to the main office.

Ivanna Tucker

Sports editor

Ivanna Tucker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Photo by Sarah Mason/For the Review

Interim 
director 
accepts 
full-time 
CPS role

Posted by :jprokop On : December 3, 2012
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Linfield College’s Public Safety (CPS) and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) operations have undergone a merger.

Effective Sept. 1, the merger made Rebecca Wale, director of EHS, acting director of CPS as well.

Wale was hired in June 2011 as the director of EHS. Last spring, she accepted an additional interim assignment as director of CPS, following the previous director’s April resignation.

The merger was never announced to students, so it just came to light for most of them. In an email, Linda Powell, senior director of Human Resources and College Safety, explained it this way:

“Due to her expertise across multiple disciplines, we found considerable efficiency, and increases in collaboration, communication and attention to matters of safety, by bringing together the previously separate departments of EHS and CPS.”

Powell said Wale was appointed to the role because of her experience with emergency management leadership, as well as private security leadership and emergency response.

She is certified by the federal Department of Homeland Security to train college and community emergency response teams. She also has previous experience in college campus safety, in which capacity she worked with community fire and police agencies.

“I am so pleased to have Rebecca Wale—a consummate safety professional, who supports Linfield’s commitment to a safe educational, living and working environment—leading Linfield’s safety programs,” Powell said.

According to Powell, the merger merely formalizes a role Wale assumed in April when she stepped in as interim director of CPS.

At that time, Wale met with members of the Student Senate, Powell said. And she has since participated in various student-focused activities, such as resident adviser training.

“The formalization of her role was communicated to staff and faculty as part of a larger announcement, and centered on employee issues,” Powell said. Asked why students weren’t notified, she termed it “certainly something for the college to consider going forward.”

Wale declined to comment, deferring to Powell.

Jessica Prokop

Editor-in-chief

Jesssica Prokop can be reached at linfieldrevieweditor@gmail.com.

Student files restraining order against her ex-boyfriend

Posted by :jprokop On : November 14, 2011
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Zachary Ryan Spencer

A Linfield student was threatened by her ex-boyfriend, prompting her to file for a restraining order against him Nov. 1.

Freshman Laura Jean Lichit’s restraining order was approved, prohibiting McMinnville resident Zachary Ryan Spencer from coming within 150 feet of campus. The need for a restraining order rose after Lichit broke up with Spencer after coming to college, she said.

Spencer then began to send her obscene and threatening text messages, at which point, Lichit felt that obtaining a restraining order was the best thing to do to prevent Spencer from contacting her, she said.

“I wanted to take every precaution,” Lichit said.

Spencer is a 5’6,” 20-year-old Caucasian male who is often seen wearing a baseball cap.

Spencer has a barbed wire tattoo around his neck and shoulders as well as a skull tattoo on his right shoulder.

If seen on campus, students are advised not to contact him and to call 911 immediately.

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Samantha Sigler/News editor
Samantha Sigler can be reached at linfieldreviewnews@gmail.com

ASLC sponsors Community Safety Forum to address students’ concerns

Posted by :jprokop On : November 7, 2011
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Ron Noble, chief of the McMinnville Police Department, talks about how McMinnville police will be assisting College Public Safety in keeping students safe during a community forum Nov. 2 in Riley 201. Joel Ray/Photo editor

Dawn Graff-Haight, professor of health education, facilitates the safety forum in which students expressed their concerns about their safety after the latest assaults. Joel Ray/Photo editor

Students, faculty and staff voiced concerns and asked questions regarding campus safety after the latest campus incidents during a Community Safety Forum sponsored by the Associated Students of Linfield College on Nov. 2 in Riley 201.

Apart from ASLC, Dawn Graff-Haight, professor of health education; Jeff MacKay, associate dean of students; Robert Cepeda, chief/director of College Public Safety; Ron Noble, chief of the McMinnville Police Department; Dan Fergueson, director of College Activities; and the school’s area directors and residence advisers (RAs), were also present at the discussion.

The forum, which was facilitated by Graff-Haight, opened the floor for students to express their feelings and concerns about the student assaults that occurred last month. Students were encouraged to ask questions about the incidents, as well as about the college’s response, Graff-Haight said in an email.

One issue that students raised during the discussion was that the email sent out to parents about the assaults was not clear enough.

ASLC Vice President senior Bradley Keliinoi said that the emails about the incidents could have been sent earlier. Students heard about the assaults through word-of-mouth before the administration had sent anything.

Other students agreed and said that the information in the emails was confusing and vague.

Some of the RAs in attendance said that when approached by students in their dorms, they did not have enough information to give them about the incidents.

Another concern students brought to the forum was a lack of lighting on and around campus.

Keliinoi said that the street leading to the new development area is pitch black at night, and many students have to walk home.

MacKay addressed this by saying that the school does not control the lighting off campus. But, he and Cepeda maintain a good relationship with the city and have sent a request to check if Davis Street is up to standards. He also clarified that anyone with lighting concerns can send a request to the city.

CPS also offers rides to students. Cepeda said the service has been underused so far, and he clarified where CPS’s boundaries are.

Students also suggested creating a cab service for students who go off campus. ASLC President senior Rachel Coffey said that ASLC is looking into it and that students would probably have to pay a small fee.

In the meantime, Noble said that Davis Street is being closely watched, and officers are on overtime patrolling.

Noble also said that students should contact the McMinnville Police Department when they see things happening.

“I think an interesting point brought up during the forum was that there has not been much information provided to the police about the incident,” Graff-Haight said in an email. “[Noble] encouraged students who witnessed the incident to come forward so the police have more information with which to investigate. He acknowledged that students might have been reticent to come forward out of fear of being cited for a MIP. Chief Noble was quite clear that there is no chance that students could be cited, so they should definitely call police if they were there.”

Noble said that although it is up to the discretion of the officer, it is often a matter of priorities. He said that officers often are in the area for other calls, unrelated to students drinking on campus.

Noble stressed that the McMinnville Police Department is not out to get Linfield students. And, calls can be anonymous and confidential.

“It is my hope that the assaults nearly two weeks ago were isolated incidents,” Graff-Haight said. “I’m pleased about the increased presence of police on Davis Street, and I encourage all of us to look out for each other, to be a little more vigilant and if any of us see something that is questionable, we call CPS on campus and the Mac PD when we’re off campus.”

For more information about what was discussed during the Community Safety Forum, visit www.linfield.edu/linfield-review/?p=8560

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Jessica Prokop/Editor-in-chief
Jessica Prokop can be reached at linfieldrevieweditor@gmail.com

Increased violations point to first-years, raised awareness

Posted by :jprokop On : October 31, 2011
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College Public Safety’s 2010 Security and Fire Safety Report, which appeared in the Oct. 10 issue of The Linfield Review, revealed an increase in alcohol and drug violations and sexual assault offenses from 2008.

The majority of alcohol and drug violations happen in residence halls.

However, sexual assaults are harder to pinpoint because they are anonymously reported. Even so, “the highest reportable rates have been at the fraternities,” Robert Cepeda, chief of CPS, said in an email.

There are several factors that have led to increases in alcohol and drug violations and sexual assaults on campus.

The first is that this is the largest number of first year students Linfield has had since the last Security and Fire Safety Report, and first-year students typically have more alcohol violations.

As for drugs, marijuana use has increased on college campuses nation- wide, Cepeda said.

The increase in sexual assaults can be attributed to “better awareness of anonymous report forms and better education of students from CATS and CATS Booster Sessions,” Cepeda said.

To lower these numbers, the school will “continue education, prevention efforts around alcohol, drug use and sexual misconduct,” Cepeda said.

Although these issues have become more prominent on Linfield’s campus, they are problems that affect colleges and universities across the nation.

“According to a study conducted by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, [it] found 17.4 million Americans were using marijuana in 2010, up from 14.4 million users in 2007,” Cepeda said. “Marijuana use among young adults aged 18 to 25 was found most responsible for the rise. Drug use among college-aged students has jumped from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 21.5 percent in 2010.”

Cepeda said that when a policy violation occurs, the report is “sent through the College Conduct Process found in the Student Code of Conduct.”

“While any increase in policy violations are concerning, given the factors that lead to the increases, they are understandable.

“The college will continue to work with students to provide education, alternative programming and enforcement to help reduce these violations,” Cepeda said.

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Jessica Prokop/Editor-in-chief
Jessica Prokop can be reached at linfieldrevieweditor@gmail.com.

Violent student attacks spark CPS safety re-evaluations

Posted by :jprokop On : October 31, 2011
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Thompson Park, where senior Zach Spencer was attacked on Oct. 22. Joel Ray/Photo editor

It was about 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, and senior Zach Spencer “thought [he] was going to die.”

Spencer was one of the two students involved in violent attacks, which were reported by Campus Public Safety to have occurred last weekend.

Robert Cepeda, chief of CPS, sent an incident notice to students on Oct. 24, explaining the two assaults.

“Both of these off-campus incidents are currently under active investigation by the McMinnville Police Department, which has law enforcement jurisdiction,” Cepeda said.

Spencer was at Thompson Park on the day of the incident and was on the phone with a friend. A couple of seconds after hanging up, Spencer said two men came up from behind him and began to attack.

He said that he made attempts to fight back but “[he] couldn’t square up or even turn around.”

He said that at this point, the attackers had full control over his life.

“They ripped my shirt and were just completely controlling me, then they slammed me into the ground and smashed my head into the ground really hard,” Spencer said. “They threw a beanie over my head and said ‘If you make a sound, we’ll shoot you.’ [They] got me on my knees and at that moment I thought I was going to die.”

Spencer said that the attackers suddenly “grabbed the beanie and took off.”

“I just collapsed to the ground and didn’t want to look because I didn’t know if they were there,” he said. “I just didn’t want to move.”

Eventually, he picked himself off the ground and walked home.

The two men didn’t take anything from Spencer, so their motives are still unknown.

The motives were also unknown for the assault on senior Kole Krieger, who according to the incident notice, was attacked at 2:40 a.m. on Oct. 23 near Davis and Chandler streets by three Hispanic males with a baseball bat.

Krieger was taken to Willamette Valley Medical Center for a head injury, but has since been released.

CPS is not releasing any further information about the incident and efforts to contact Krieger for more information were unsuccessful.

In a campus safety update sent to all students by Susan L. Hopp, vice president of student affairs and athletics and dean of students, she highlighted the actions CPS plans to take to heighten security in response to the incidents.

CPS first plans to modify its patrol of Davis Street, which Cepeda said “for security reasons, we prefer not to divulge details of our procedures, but we will be bolstering our presence in the area.”

They will also work with the McMinnville Police Department, ASLC and the City of McMinnville to explore ideas, such as developing other types of patrol, providing taxi services for students and adding more adequate lighting on Davis Street.

Although Spencer said that this experience has changed him, his “sense of security is fine,” and he doesn’t see much that needs to be changed through CPS.

“They can’t really change much besides patrolling certain areas more,” he said. “I still feel safe walking around by myself. But when I see a group of girls walking around at night [and knowing that] they think nothing can happen to them, I know I thought nothing could happen to me, too. I just want people to be more aware. Campus safety can’t be there every second.”

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Andra Kovacs/News editor
Andra Kovacs can be reached at linfieldreviewnews@gmail.com.

Campus Public Safety improves service with use of new golf cart

Posted by :jprokop On : September 19, 2011
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A few notable changes have been made to Campus Public Safety this year. They have had some improvements in their equipment, including a new golf cart.

Robert Cepeda, director/chief of CPS said that he hopes the cart will help CPS to improve their service to students on campus.

“Using a golf cart allows staff to traverse the inner campus easier, provide door-to-door courtesy rides and patrol the campus in a more proactive manner without the restrictions associated with a street vehicle,” he said.

Cepeda said that CPS had money set aside last year for the cart, but wasn’t able to find one that met their requirements. This year, they were able to find the funds for the cart.

“The department was able to purchase a golf cart from a reputable second party that had no further use for it at substantial savings,” Cepeda said.

With the help of the new equipment, CPS plans to continue their professional training focused on emergency management and preparedness this year.

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Andra Kovacs/News editor
Andra Kovacs can be reached at linfieldreviewnews@gmail.com.