ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 2 8 /C&RL News Cutting down on crim e in the lib ra ry By R oland C. P e rso n an d Nelson A. F e rry An experiment in university library security Security problems In the summer of 1987, the dean o f the Univer­ sity Libraries at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) wrote to the president of SIUC to describe his concern about security mat­ ters in the library. Reported thefts o f library and students’ materials, mutilation of library ma­ terials, and behavioral problems with patrons all appeared to be increasing. Moreover, the reports seemed likely to be only a part o f the actual incidents because many are not reported or not discovered until long afterwards. This memo resulted in increasing cooperation among various campus offices, and increased patrols by the university security service, but it was not until the end o f 1989 that a specific secu­ rity response was formally begun. A trial solution Money had been a concern from the beginning and the university’s fiscal situation had been one o f the reasons for the administration not funding a full-time security position for the li­ brary. When the dean decided the situation was sufficiently serious to commit library funds to security matters, the decision was made to employ student security personnel full time in the library. One would be on duty at all hours the library was open and a second would come on specifically for the evening hours when fewer library staff were on duty. Both would continuously patrol the eight-story building, often visibly in uniform, sometimes in plain clothes. The trial period o f the spring semester’s five and a half months would cost an estimated $9,600 in wages for the student security force, called Saluki Patrol. A student security force When the Saluki Patrol was established in 1959, SIUC’s Police Department was the first univer­ sity police agency in the U.S. to employ stu­ dents in a law enforcement capacity. The stu­ dent police officers (Salukis) perform a broad variety o f services to the university commu­ nity. They walk foot patrol, perform traffic and crow d co n tro l, con d u ct b uild in g secu rity checks, and operate the telecommunications center. They are unarmed, except for night sticks, but they possess authority to enforce university rules and regulations and to detain suspects at the direction o f the university po­ lice using walkie-talkie contact. They receive minimal wages, but gain invaluable experi­ ence. The responsibilities o f the patrol in the li­ brary were broadly in two categories: they were to be alert for property damage, disruptive b e ­ havior and noise, smoking and other violations o f library rules, and they were to assist with any emergency situations. They could be paged by any staff person in the building, using tele­ phones and pagers. During the initial six weeks o f the experiment, all Saluki Patrol officers as­ signed to the library duty were in full uniform. This gave the staff, particularly those few in the evening hours, a considerable sense o f per­ sonal security. Publicity in the campus news­ paper made their presence well known, with the emphasis on the security benefits to every­ one rather than on a “police presence.” R olan d C. Person is assistant scien ce lib ra rian a t Southern Illinois University, C arbon dale (SIUC), e-m ail: GA4035@SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU; Nelson A. Ferry is sergeant/police comm unity relations a n d training a t SIUC mailto:GA4035@SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU July/August 1 9 9 4 / 4 2 9 Both categories o f duty produced benefits. The plainclothes patrol discovered a number o f theft/mutilation violations in progress and were able to initiate arrests, radioing for backup from campus security. During the 18 months prior to the patrol’s assignment to the library, there was one criminal arrest, but there were ten arrests during the patrol’s 18-month pres­ ence in the library. Patrol members also as­ sisted in making patrons and staff visibly aware that security was only a call away and that inci­ dents could be reported with prompt results. The results o f this trial were that statistics on reported incidents supported the conclu­ sion that the program was successful, and li­ brary employee morale and informal reaction also strongly supported the presence o f the patrol. Both the campus security office and the dean of the libraries agreed that the program was a success, so it was continued through the summer and the following year. Funding drawbacks Funding continued to be a problem as both the university’s and the library’s budgets were being pinched. The two-person patrol cost close to $20,000 for 12 months so in 1990/91 the library m oved to just on e Patrol m em ber throughout the hours the library was open. The basic salary costs were also considerably in creased at this time by changes in the mini mum wage law. These problems grew to such an extent that the library administration was forced to reevaluate the program at the end o fiscal 1991. Again, there were appeals for fund ing to the university administration, even t the campus security office. These failed and, despite continued staff support for the program, the library was forced to discontinue the patro in the summer o f 1991. Success amidst failure In spite o f a variety o f problems— from patro boredom to staff concerns about not seeing th patrol for hours at a time (perhaps when the were not in uniform)— there was general agree ment both from the library staff and the secu rity personnel that the Saluki Patrol progra was a success. Incidents o f criminal damage t university property decreased by 50%; disor derly conduct dropped 25%; theft over $30 declined by 40%; and theft under $300 droppe 17%. The total number o f criminal incident declined 24%. This decline, plus the 900% in crease in criminal arrests, attested both to th ­ ­ f ­ o l l e y ­ ­ m o ­ 0 d s ­ e deterrent effect o f the patrol’s presence and to much quickened response time for any re­ orted incident. However, funding proved to e the chief sticking point and the library ulti­ ately decided that it could not continue to upport the service from the library funds which ught to be going for traditional library materi­ ls and services. The reported incidents o f theft nd mutilation, and the success o f the patrol in essening such incidents, were not sufficient to ustify the very visible costs. The staffs increased eeling o f security was not sufficient either. hen the library’s funding o f the project ended here was no publicity and the patrol contin­ ed random visits, so for some time afterward ome believed the patrol was still active in the ibrary, just less visible. This too is proof that he experiment fulfilled much o f what was in­ ended even after it officially ended. The clearly successful experiment with the aluki Patrol, contrasted both to the number of ncidents b efore the experiment and to the radually increasing number o f incidents fol- lowing the patrol-induced decline, suggests that n alternative to the status quo is still needed. he library is continuing to work with the cam­ us security office on ways to strengthen secu­ ity without the luxury o f patrol members as­ igned exclusively to the library. The number f actual arrests for criminal behavior will not qual those o f the patrol’s time, but better train­ ng o f library staff, and publicity for users to lert them to security concerns, for their own ossessions and for library materials, may lessen he need for such arrests. ■ Letters Readers are pleased To the Editor: I must compliment you on a well-done job with your magazine. I am a library stu­ dent who hopes to becom e a professional librarian. Keep up the good work and I just love the articles on Internet.— C ynthia M. Sankey, A la b a m a State University To the Editor: Just wanted to let you know that I have found the June 1994 issue o f C&RL News one of the best, most informative issues ever. Keep up the excellent work.— D rew R acin e, University o f Texas, Austin a p b m s o a a l j f W t u s l t t S i g ‚ a T p r s o e i a p t