Have You Ever Had One Of Those Days

We have all had them! You get up in the morning and find from the very start things are conspiring against you. There is no hot water, you stumble to the kitchen only to find that you are out of milk, then you burn the toast, then you finally make it out to the car only to find that you have a flat! When the whole day starts to look like Muphy is not just visiting...he has taken up residence in your home....why even bother to go to work?

Well, we get up and go to work because we must. We have a duty to our school and no matter what comes at us on the home front, you will find the professional courage to step out into this unruly world and attempt to tame your corner of it. It is not always easy, but we must be there because not only are the students counting on us, the parents are, the faculty members are and the staff members are. With all of that riding on our shoulders we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves.

I know that there are times where I feel like I just can not take another thing going wrong. However, that is the time when you know that you need to take a break. If you do not take occasional breaks along the way you are headed for disaster and certain burn-out. The job of a lawenforcement professional or security professional on a college campus can be taxing to say the least.

Mini vacations are just the answer. Sometimes a change of scenery is just what it will take to give you a fresh outlook on your job and on life itself. If you feel yourself feeling like you need a break - take one! Make sure that your bases are covered and then leave someone else in charge and take a break. Your institution will somehow make it without you. In fact, it was probably there before you got there and will be there well after you leave.

Mini vacations can be a one day jaunt to the mountains or beach or a long weekend of relaxing or catching up on chores around the house so that you will not have a morning like what was described at the beginning of this article. If you don't take the time to do such things it can become overwhelming as things begin to mount up and you feel as if you are losing control.

With the school year about to start again you need to have it well planned. If you do then the minor glitches that come up will be much easier to deal with and it will leave you more time for doing such things as taking a mini vacation. You also need to coordinate your time off so that you can get the maximum amount of enjoyment without worrying that you are leaving your institution without a key person. For instance, don't plan on taking a mini vacation just before a major event on campus. You will come back and feel rushed to make the necessary preparations and the vacation will be despised by you because you are so far behind.

Take a break.....put your feet up.....and enjoy your time off!

Don't Squash A Flea With An Elephant!

Effective management and managers are hard to find. Most people are not naturally born managers. What we must do is learn how to manage people and events. We can learn a lot by watching what others do that works or doesn't work.

I have learned a lot from managers who exhibited very poor management or people skills. I remember one manager who had a bad reputation in almost every aspect of his relationship with the people who worked for him. People feared him. He often chewed people out right in front of others. People hated him. He often cursed people out for not doing what he thought they should be doing. People hated him. This manager often promoted people who would do crooked things that benefited him personally, yet cost the company he was working for hundreds of thousands of dollars and possibly even into the millions. I hated him - but I learned to watch this negative example of what not to do when managing people. Watch people who are mangers and learn not to make the same mistakes they make.

The title of this article seems to have nothing to do with the art of management. That is, until you look at an example of someone taking an extreme measure to correct a minor problem. This was illustrated to me one day when the company moved that hated manager to another smaller unit. They then installed a new manager who seemed to have much better interpersonal skills. However, he often sqaushed fleas with an elephant. What do I mean by this?

If you want to kill fleas on a dog, what do you do? Well, you first make sure that it is fleas that you are trying to kill so that you use the right solution. Next you use enough of the solution to kill the fleas but not the dog. If you have an elephant handy you can try killing the fleas with the said elephant, however, the dog is not going to appreciate having this monster stepping on him to kill his fleas. It probably would not kill the fleas and it would most likely kill the dog.

Here is what I am talking about in terms of management. The new manager who took the reins of the store where I worked (you remember, he replaced the hated manager) decided he would call his wife each day before he left work to let her know that he was on his way home. He always left at about 5:30 or 5:45. One day he picked up the phone and dialed 9 to get an outside line. He was unable to get an outside line. It seemed that all of the outgoing lines were busy. He tried several times to get his call through. He met with no success. He left frustrated.

The next day he told the operations manager to have access to all the outside lines blocked. To make a call he wanted the store associates to call the store operator and for the operator to log all outgoing calls. There were over 100 phones in the store. Much of the time the associates were handling customers by phone to answer questions or transact business. This new manager thought they were making personal phone calls. Absolutley right, some were. Most were not!

Sales began to immediately decline. The new manager blamed the decrease on everything around. You name it, he blamed it at one time or another. Oh, except for the fact that nobody could conduct routine business by phone with out having to jump through hoops and have every call logged. After loosing millions of dollars in sales the company finally moved the new manager to another store. He had solved the percieved problem by taking a drastic measure to fix a problem but he killed the sales in the store in the process. I developed my "Don't squash fleas with an elephant!" management style right then and there!

What does this have to do with campus law enforcement? Well, anytime you are dealing with people you have to keep in mind that they are just dogs with fleas. If you come down with heavy handed techniques or approaches to problems you may be causing more harm than good. Take a look at your actions and see if there is a more subtle and, quite possibly, a better way to make necessary changes. They will probably be more efective in the long run.

A Few Days Away From A New Semester

We are just a few days away from a new year and most colleges and universities are already gearing up for the return of students. It is important to keep a few things in mind as we prepare our campuses for the return of students. For some freshmen who will begin college in the spring semester, this will be the opportunity their chosen college or university will have to confirm in their minds the fact that they have chosen their school wisely. For returning students it will be the chance the university or college has to prove that they listen to suggestions, complaints and grievances of their students, faculty and staff.

You have a chance to impress them all over again with the start of each new semester. You can impress the students that come to your campus by repairing that nagging door that will not close properly or by cleaning up around the gates to your campus. A clean well maintained campus will help foster a image of your campus that is positive. A few new landscaping elements or new lighting might be just the ticket for showing that you care about the area that your students inhabit.

As you are taking stock of your surroundings, take a look at your vehicles. I know of one situation where the maintenance supervisor told the president of the college that he was going to put the name of the college on the truck they used and park it in a very conspicuous place if it was not replaced soon. The rusting spots on the body, the smoke belching from the exhaust, the loose steering, the bad brakes.... You get the picture... Was not enough to get the administration to replace the truck. However, the threat of a little embarrassment worked like a charm. Over the summer the truck quietly disappeared bringing the paltry price of scrap metal. Yes, the car crusher was all it was worth. Yet it had been used on the campus for years in that condition.

Take a look at your every day items. Tools, vehicles, buildings, gates and other publicly visible items. They all make a statement about your campus. If your campus looks like it isn't cared for it invites crime to your campus. It is more than a cosmetic appearance

Crime Prevention Tips

Have you given any thought to what would help keep crime from happening. It is much better to prevent crime than to investigate it. But how do you keep crimes from happening?

To answer that question we would look at what schools have done in the past that works. Here are a few ideas that schools have submitted that appear to work.

1. Prosecute crimes to the fullest extent of the law. By doing so you will end up in court a lot but you will be in front of many people who commit crimes and they will see that you mean business about protecting your campus.

2. Get to know the people outside your campus. Much of the crime one school reported came from the area in very near proximity to the campus. The Chief of Security joined the neighborhood association and they got involved in what was going on outside the gates. They learned where the problems were and the clout of the college motivated the local police in ways that the ordinary citizen couldn't. Remember, tax paying students can generate a lot of money for a city or county (or parish for you folks in LA). Wouldn't it be great if more students came to their city to pay taxes?

3. Organize events that have a positive impact on young people before they get in trouble. Also, if you keep people in the young teen to mid-twenties age group busy doing something positive then you will prevent a certain amount of crime. These youngsters usually know more about who is doing what and is a great source of intelligence on persons who commit crimes, fence stolen property, buy or sell drugs and other undesirable problems. Make sure that someone from your campus police or security is involved in your community for the purpose of learning who is doing what while at the same time keeping those most likely to commit crimes busy doing something positive. In other words, know your enemy.

4. Use the media to communicate crime prevention measures your school uses. This will put the criminal on notice that they might have an easier time elsewhere. Don't forget to communicate with your school's newspaper and student organizations.

5. Cultivate a good working relationship with local prosecutors and police. Even if you have sworn officers you still need to share information with your local and state police or sheriff's office. If your school has officers that have specialized training, offer their services to other jurisdictions, task forces, and agencies. There will be a wealth of information exchanged. However, do be careful with information about your students information that might be protected under FERPA.

Campus Funnies

In recent years I have been asked some strange questions. At times I have to give it some thought and come up with an appropriate answer. Other times it takes a little research to come up with the answer. Sometimes the answer is in the question.

At one point I ran the bookstore in our college. It was fun. I met all the students and had time to get to know many of them. I knew what they liked, what they didn't like, who was doing well in school. Sometimes I felt as if I was the bartender because I listened to the gripes, complaints, concerns and plans of the students. One day though, I was asked a question that I just couldn't help but laugh about.

This young freshman walked in and noticed that we sold pre-paid phone cards. She was excited and wanted to purchase one. "How much is a$10 phone card?" she asked. Everyone within earshot heard the question, then the laughter. "Uhhhhhhhh - Ten Dollars" was my answer. Nope, didn't even have to think about that one.
Of course, this was the same person that had asked a few days earlier "What course is this book for?" She held up the book with the title Introduction to Biology. She had removed it from the shelf that had a sign that said "Introduction to Biology" Course Number GE 1234, Professor Schmoe. "Hmmmmmm, I think that would be for "Introduction to Biology" I stated. Nope, that wasn't one of the questions that I had to think about either.

Communications: The Key To Surviving a Disaster

Recent events have shown the need to have communications that allow police, fire, EMS, security and other agencies in the affected area be able to communicate effectively. How many times will we have disasters occur where we see the same problems pop up before we will do something to correct them?

In this day, where the electronic form of communication is so vital, we see little advanced effort to see that all emergency responders in a geographic area are able to communicate with one another in an emergency situation. We have drills that are, in my humble opinion, not realistic in simulating the disasters impact on the communications facilities that are available. Yet, in nearly every disaster that I can think of, communications, or the lack thereof, is the key ingredient in the failure of a proper response. I would propose that procedures be developed to see that everyone in the emergency response field be able to communicate with each other.

It seems to me that there should be careful consideration given to communications even at the expense of other aspects of response to disasters. For example, what good does it do to have ambulances, rescue helicopters, rescue teams, fire fighters or police officers if they can not be dispatched to areas where they are needed. There should be a plan that has been rehearsed in advance that would allow for the immediate implementation of an emergency communications plan.

I have tried for years to gain access to the cities emergency communications for the colleges and universities in our area. A separate channel for these institutions to speak directly to emergency services would allow the various emergency responders to have more timely responses to areas of our city that house, on a persons per square mile basis, a much higher than normal density of population. This fact makes these both a greater burden on the city in an emergency and a valuable resource in a time of crisis. Additional communications equipment, personnel and facilities might be available that otherwise would be overlooked and the personnel at these locations know their facilities best making it more efficient to have them assist in responding to their facilities.

A prime example of this is a case where a medical response was delayed to a serious condition because the caller was not with the victim. EMS dispatchers did what their protocol demanded. A call went out to the EMS crew with a routine response requested. Some 17 minutes after the initial call the crew rolled up in front of our school. They began to meander to the back of their rig to get their equipment and chit chatted about stuff going on in their lives. Meanwhile, a person who had had open heart surgery about three months earlier lay on the floor in a semi-conscious state. After being advised three times by a bystander that they thought the person was dying and it was possibly a heart attack did the EMS crew realize the seriousness of the call. They went with an emergency response to the hospital. If the security personnel on site had had direct access to a channel for such emergencies, it was discovered that the initial call would have warranted an emergency response. Where are we today? The city still does not have a way for school and university personnel to communicate by radio to the dispatchers. What would happen in a Columbine situation, fire or other medical emergency?

By paying attention to the details of a comprehensive communications plan we can eliminate much of the current problems we have in communicating in an emergency situation. These minor disasters can be multiplied several hundreds of times over in a wide spread disaster caused by earthquake, hurricane, tornado, flood or even a terrorist attack. Why not fix the problems that we know exist?

Hurricane Katrina: Are You Prepared For Catastrophe

As hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast we saw the devastation that a natural disaster can bring. This will be the most costly natural disaster in American history in terms of both money and lives. We heard the desperation in the voice of the residents, the mayor, the president of the parish and the first responders.

It has prompted me to contact the city government and ask that our school be included in any disaster drills and exercises. It is important that you take a proactive approach to disaster planning and response. It crossed my mind that in my nine years in the security department at my school, we have never been contacted by city officials, Red Cross, FEMA, County, State or any other official to find out what kind of response would be needed to evacuate the students from our campus if the need should arise. We also have facilities that might be of interest to these agencies if they needed to have a place to set up an emergency shelter in the case of a disaster.

I was shocked to hear that there was confusion as to who was in charge in New Orleans. There is a command protocol when there is a terror incident. It seems logical to me that even though the event was not a terror plot, there was mass destruction. Therefore, the only logical course of action would be to treat it the same as if it were a terror plot, minus the criminal investigation. It is only through disaster planning and practice exercises that these types of problems are identified and addressed. It is much better to have the problems show up in a practice exercise than to realize that you have a problem with command and control during a disaster of this magnitude.

With this in mind, do a few things now so that you know how to handle a catastrophic event at your school.
1. Contact your local Red Cross chapter and see if they have your facilities information up to date
2. Contact your county government or city government to confirm that they know you have x number of
people to evacuate in case of a disaster.
3. Ask to be included in any disaster drills or exercises
4. Make sure that you store water if you have a predicted storm coming your way.
5. Make sure your emergency equipment includes the things you use most commonly and that are not
electrically operated.
6. Keep a list of up to date phone numbers of key response personnel that you meet at disaster drills.
7. Don't depend on technology too much when you are in the midst of a disaster.
8. Have some way to mark your street name on the pavement in case road signs are not visible, damaged
or missing.
9. Work toward survival first, rescue second and then recovery.
10. In a major disaster expect help to arrive after 1 week. You must do it all prior to that!
11. Be sure your basic first aid skills are up to date.