Kevin Howell, who was previously the assistant director of security, is now the department’s new director.
According to Howell, there isn’t much of a transition from one job to the other. Although this may be the case, he is making a few changes to the security department under his new title.
One of his goals is to make the department more professional and student-oriented. He plans on doing this by enforcing rigid training for all security officers. They will be trained for physical conflict and will be receiving the same training as the state law enforcement.
“We are going to be doing a lot more training than required by the state of Florida,” he said. “I believe in training. Even though the state does not mandate it, I am going to mandate it.”
Another change he is making towards being more student-oriented is getting the security officers more involved on campus. When on duty, the officers will get involved with student organizations if they need anything. By doing so, he allows students to become familiar with all of the officers, rather than just himself.
After attending freshmen orientation this semester, Howell realized that there are a few topics that students need to be aware of, so he is making it one of his goals to spread such awareness. One such topic is fake IDs; he wants students to realize that having possession of a fake ID is a felony and suggests that students not start college with this charge.
The next topic that we would like to tackle is that of bicycle registration. He encourages all students to register their bicycles. Many students do not take advantage of this service even though its free. By registering a bicycle, campus security has the ability to check any bicycle and make sure that the person riding it is the owner.
Although there have been a few changes in the standard operating procedures and policies of the security department under the new administration, there have also been some organizational changes.The department, which had previously been called Campus Safety and Security, is now titled simply Campus Safety. The contact information for the department has also been updated. The new phone number is (813) 257-7777 and the new email address is campussafety@ut.edu.
Shivani Kanji can be reached at shivani.kanji@spartans.ut.edu
Interesting. I have noticed that I see them sitting around playing on their phones a lot less. They should also have a physical fitness test every year. Half of them couldn’t chase anyone if their life (or someone else’s) depended on it. Just saying