Incidents seen as warning

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 10:50 a.m.

When an Elvis impersonator recently showed up for his CCSN dental clinic appointment with a loaded, semi-automatic handgun tucked into the back of his pants, Campus Security Director Sandy Seda was the only officer on the campus trained to respond.

As it turned out, Elvis was harmless -- the man had a concealed weapon's permit and did not realize he was violating state law by bringing the handgun onto the Community College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston campus, Seda said.

But the March 26 incident, the third such occurrence at CCSN that month, easily could have turned ugly and served as a reminder of the need to supplement public safety staff with trained police officers, Seda said.

Currently, Seda is the only trained police officer overseeing the Community College of Southern Nevada's three campuses and 13 learning centers. A former New York City police officer and a veteran of the Marine Corps Reserves who recently did two tours in Iraq, Seda supervises 48 contracted security officers hired through Allied Security, a national firm with a Las Vegas office.

The security officers are only trained to "observe and report," Seda said. They do not carry weapons and are not trained to arrest or subdue anyone. And because they are contracted through a company, there is a high turnover rate in officers, Seda said.

"I'm the only one responding to these type of calls," such as the armed Elvis, "and I'm very concerned about that," Seda continued. "We need to have prepositioned critical thinkers, professionally trained first-response officers, in place in case of an emergency."

Seda wants to accomplish that by adding sworn peace officers to his staff over the next four years. In the end, Seda envisions a hybrid, in-house police department with sworn peace officers handling emergency needs, crime and law enforcement while still maintaining security officers for public service needs such as unlocking doors and escorting people to their cars late at night.

Seda wants the guards to be secondary to a professionally trained police force similar to those at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Nevada, Reno, and Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Seda said.

The Board of Regents is slated to review the proposal at its June meeting in Elko. If approved, the community college will move forward with the plan, which involves hiring six sergeants in the first year and then adding eight officers in the second and third years.

Eight more officers could be added in the fourth year depending on the college's needs, Seda said.

"The proposal here is what I consider to be insurance," Seda said. "Police officers bring to the table a greater level of training, education and experience."

Currently, the community college is not equipped to handle the rise in auto theft and burglary at the campuses, much less any real emergency, Seda said. There were 27 vehicles stolen in 2003 and 30 burglaries, up from four stolen vehicles in 1999 and zero burglaries. Incidents such as domestic disputes are also becoming more frequent.

Security calls for other significant events, such as fights, car accidents, and medical assistance, have also jumped by more than 65 percent in the past four years, according to CCSN public safety data.

The three gun incidents in March all involved individuals who, like the Elvis impersonator, did not realize they were violating state law by bringing a weapon onto campus.

But in an previous incident, on Sept. 29, 2003, at the Cheyenne Campus, a despondent man entered a classroom and handed a note to the professor saying that he had a gun in his backpack and would begin shooting everyone if the professor didn't immediately evacuate the classroom.

The professor coolly told the class she had something prepared for the class to do outside, and North Las Vegas police were able to respond and apprehend the man, Seda said. He did not have a gun, but he did have a knife in his bag, and police still have no idea why he came to campus that September day.

"Fortunately, that situation turned out well and no one was hurt, but we were very lucky here," Seda said.

With 35,000 students, the community college has the largest enrollment of any institution of higher education in the state, and it is one of the fastest growing community colleges in the nation. All of that makes it all the more necessary for the institution to have its own police department, Seda said. A 1995 nationwide study of campus public safety departments found that 89 percent of campuses with more than 10,000 students had their own police departments.

The distance between CCSN campuses makes it difficult for Seda to respond quickly to all emergencies.

"I need to know that I have people already in place there at the campus who are professionally trained, proprietary employees and who will help deal with the situation until I get there," Seda said. "That is what this is all about."

Seda said he is still working with senior administrators at the college on developing the program because they are waiting for the Board of Regent's approval to move forward. The initial start-up costs will be significant, Seda said, as the college will have to pay for the training, equipment and uniforms of each officer. Money will also be needed to establish security facilities and to purchase vehicles and other equipment for the entire department.

The average cost to outfit a police officer is about $5,000, and vehicles are cost $30,000 each. Most of the salary costs will be covered with the money saved on hiring security officers and other cost-cutting plans, Seda said.

"We are going to lay the plan out and spread the cost associated with this out over the next four years so we don't get hit with a bill all at the same time," Seda said.

Patty Charlton, vice president for finance and administration at CCSN, said the costs of an in-house police department should not have a significant financial impact on the college but would significantly improve campus safety.

"We've really gotten awfully big, awfully complex, and our commitment is to the safety of our students and the faculty, as well as protecting our resources," Charlton said. "That is really our impetus behind it."