UNLV Police reform will be costly

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000 | 10:56 a.m.

Community policing at UNLV won't come cheap.

University Police Chief Jose Elique said to provide equipment and sensitivity training to make his officers more visible and effective on campus the annual operations budget for the Public Safety Department will have to be doubled.

Elique has submitted a budget proposal for $265,000 and a one-time allocation of $130,000 -- a sum equal to the current annual public safety budget -- for additional training, alternative campus vehicles and a new police car.

Elique said sensitivity training for officers can be expensive -- $1,000 a day plus expenses for a training consultant who would over a four-day period train campus officers in conflict resolution, police anger management and diversity.

Elique's goal is to change his officers' mindset from being arrest-oriented and doling out traffic tickets on perimeter streets to being more visible on the interior of the campus, defusing situations and reducing crime.

School crime statistics released last week show that 90 of the 105 major crimes committed last year were building and car burglaries and auto thefts -- crimes that can be prevented with better campus police presence, Elique said.

Elique, who is in charge of 25 state-certified police officers, said his proposal "contains no fat," and in some cases would correct situations where officers pay out of their pockets for certifications and equipment and drive around in old patrol cars that "are falling apart."

"I have to give them credit that they were able to do what they did on what they got," Elique said of the police force that has been the subject of public criticism including allegations of over-aggressive tactics.

The amount Elique is seeking is five times the public safety department's current $50,000 base budget and twice the total budget of $130,000, which includes $80,000 in campus parking fines -- a figure that varies year-to-year.

Elique is not sure how much he will get. Neither is Rebecca Mills, UNLV's vice president for student life, who is forwarding Elique's budget request for consideration in the school's budget proposal to the Legislature.

"I believe the institution has made a commitment to the needs that his department is trying to provide, and certainly Chief Elique deserves some additional money because of the growth of the campus," Mills said, noting that to grant the entire amount, "we would have to reallocate funds."

Regent Steve Sisolak said Elique's proposal represents "a huge increase -- not many budgets are doubled."

But if he can demonstrate a need for the funding, I don't see a problem," Sisolak said. "I would not want to scrimp where safety and security is concerned."

Elique, former chief of the 21-campus City University of New York police force who came to UNLV four months ago, said his proposal "would compare favorably to other police departments of universities this size nationwide that get $300,000 or more" a year to operate.

Elique is asking for $4,300 for certifications in areas such as firearms training and qualifications, items he said he couldn't find in the last budget. Elique said a number of officers have obtained certification at their own expense.