The University Police Department has made several changes to itspolicy for training officers and has taken steps to curb alcoholabuse, President Blaine Brownell said at a press conferenceThursday.
The changes include an extended field training program, limitson how rookie officers patrol, training on non-lethal force and newcommunication with Muncie police about student arrests.
Brownell said the officer training program has been extendedfrom 14 weeks to 21 weeks.
Officers will also be required to patrol with an experiencedofficer for three months after their completion the Indiana PoliceAcademy program.
The police department did not require the officers to ride withanother officer before they had attended the academy and only rodewith an officer for one to two weeks upon graduation, Gene Burton,director of public safety, said.
Field training will include instruction on all approved weapons,including chemical defensive spray.
McConkey said Burton is looking at the use of tasers and shouldsubmit a report by the end of December.
"In no way does this point to an inadequecy in our training,"Douglas McConkey, vice president for Student Affairs and EnrollmentManagement, said.
Burton said that these changes will apply to an officer who iswaiting to attend the academy.
The university has also made an agreement with Muncie PoliceDepartment in which the MPD will report all off-campus citationsand arrests to the university.
"Our message to students is clear: Your behavior within ourgreater community will have a direct effect on your standing withthe university," Brownell said.
Along with the agreement, two to three officers will be added topatrol during the nights and weekends, Brownell said.
The university made the changes a month after officer RobertDuplain killed student Michael S. McKinney. Mckinney had a bloodalcholol level of .343 more than 10 hours after he died.
"...We must recognize that changes made today will neither takeaway the pain caused by this event, nor guarantee that a similarsituation could never arise in the future," Brownell said.
McConkey said he realized that the initiatives would do littleto affect alcohol abuse.
"I'm a realist when it comes to this," McConkey said. "Therewill not be an immediate change over night., but we're committed tomaking improvements."
The UPD will not stop patrolling off-campus areas, Brownellsaid.
McConkey said the UPD had experminented from spring to six weeksago with only responding to calls from off campus, but decidedagainst implementing the change after seeing a significant increasein complaints.
Tim McKinney, Michael McKinney's father, said he supported thepolicy changes as long as they come to fruition, but he said hisfamily wants Ball State's administration to address the issue ofofficers carrying guns.
"I don't have a problem with guns, but I do have a problem withguns when they're in the wrong setting," McKinney said. "If thecampus is that dangerous, then maybe Ball State's just not thequality institution that it reports to be."
McConkey said he did not know if McKinney's death could havebeen prevented if the changes had already been in place.
THE CHANGES:
1. No Ball State police officer will patrol or respond tocalls alone until he or she has completed training at the IndianaLaw Enforcement Academy.
2. Ball State's training program will be expanded from 14 to21 weeks -- Two weeks of core training, two weeks of investigativetraining, 15 weeks of work on all three shifts and two final weeksof work on the assigned shift.
3. New officers will work in the company of an experiencedofficer for a period of three months following completion of theacademy.
4. All officers will be trained in the use of all equipmentapproved or issued by the department, including chemical defensivespray and baton, prior to completion of field training.
5. Muncie Police Department will now inform the university ofoff-campus citations and arrests of students. Students who arearrested by the MPD will face the same disciplinary procedures asthose charged on campus.
6. Selected shifts will be staffed with an additional two tothree officers to combat alcohol problems including underagedrinking and public intoxication.
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