NEWS

McNish reviewing Security conflict

by Benjamin Clark

The fault lines between officers and management in the department of Safety and Security have not subsided in the last week. Interim Dean of Student Life and Services Deb McNish said she, as the supervisor for the department, will devote additional attention to the problems. A number of grievances are still being investigated by the Human Relations Department.

"Labor relations meetings will begin. There are so many issues in the department, so we'll have to pick them apart," McNish said. "There is a lot of pressure on them to do the job and do the job well," she said. "To relieve the pressure I'm going to devote more of my time to the department and create my own investigation. I'll be meeting with the entire staff."

McNish points to the stress the department has been under in the last few weeks. "There are probably a lot of issues confronting the department, partially because of changes in leadership, parking and the assaults. The department is really stressed right now," she said.

Two issues which concern members of the Security staff are the handling of the Daryl Copeland case earlier this year, as well as a memo sent to all staff stating that James is the only staffperson able to give authorization for an investigation with the Oberlin Police. These issues are in addition to several outlined involving grievences in regard to overtime and hiring.

Copeland, a town resident, was arrested on campus twice in the past year. The first arrest occurred last February for an outstanding bench warrant and the second on July 1 for allegedly writing a letter to a 20-year old student in which he threatened to rape her and kill himself.

The first incident occurred last spring when James was first alerted to the presence of Copeland. Someone reported to security a suspicious van in the Gray Gables parking lot, and an officer responded to the call. The officer learned that Copeland owned the van, and had an outstanding bench warrant against him.

The police subsequently arrested Copeland. The Office of Safety and Security had the option to place Copeland on their "trespass list," a list of individuals they deem threatening to the safety of the campus, but due to no previous incidents James felt Copeland did not pose a threat to student safety.

"We have placed people on this list prohibiting them from campus, where an incident has happened, or when a student has felt threatened by this person. In terms of Daryl Copeland, he had never threatened anyone on campus," said James.

The trespass list, which currently lists 112 people, is difficult to enforce because of its size. James said that for that reason, only individuals who pose a definite threat to students are placed on it. "At one time I was told the list was too long," James said.

Some individuals expressed frustration with the manner in which security handled the Copeland incidents. College senior and student patrol officer Brian Donoghue explained that Copeland has been arrested previously for burglary, aggravated assault, as well as abduction.

During the summer several students living off campus brought it to the attention of the Office of Security that they found a threatening letter which they believed Copeland had written. After the threatening letter was found, Security placed Copeland on the trespass list.

Copeland, who at that time was no longer in police custody, was parking his van on student properties and interacting with the students. Some students he was in contact with filed a report with the Oberlin police department after they discovered the disturbing letter.

Copeland attempted to contact the student he addressed the letter to at her job in the Sperry Neuroscience building. James was alerted to his presence and requested that the supervisor along with the security officer on duty approach Copeland. "Our role on campus is to respond until the police department gets there. We hold the fort. That's the nature of our job," said James. The police department picked up Copeland.

According to James, the security officer in question refused to approach Copeland. Copeland was not armed at the time of arrest; however, the officer cited reports of Copeland's dangerous history, and the fact that he was possibly armed, as explanations for refusing to execute the order.

The officer in question filed a grievance pertaining to the apprehension of Copeland. "The grievance was unfounded," said James.

"That officer did make a conscious decision not to respond," James said. "But that officer was never reprimanded."

"It is the officer's job to assess the situation. If anything, they can stay a safe distance away and be a witness," Assistant Director of Security Marjorie Burton said.

"Frankly, I don't think the community would respect me to say 'don't respond.' Had I not responded, I would have been criticized for not sending an officer," James said.

Some individuals expressed frustration with the manner in which security handled the Copeland incidents. "The general situation was handled very poorly. Relating to poor leadership by management," said Donoghue.

Security management sparked further disagreement among officers when a memo from Burton stated that, "Keith James, the Director of Safety and Security, is the only person that may give authorization for any investigative activities between the Oberlin Police Department and the Safety and Security Office."

James explained that this memo stemmed from an investigation that was conducted without his knowledge while he was on vacation. He said that this is long standing security policy, which existed before his tenure. "That is a directive that has always been," said James. "Investigative operations go through the director."

Some officers believe that the memo was the result of investigations done into Copeland's criminal history without James' direction.

"The memo didn't come out due to Copeland," Burton said.

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Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 6, October 9, 1998

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