Amber McKenna
Editor in chief

Cases of disrespect toward students by Linfield Campus Safety officers have been circulating campus, prompting Interim Director of Campus Safety William Curtin to take action.
“I’m writing some new policies that are in the formulative stage,” Curtin said.
Numerous students have reported to the Review that they feel LCS officers have been acting unconventionally toward them this semester. The most common complaint is of students not being told why they were “pulled over” by LCS when either stopped while in a vehicle or on foot.
Curtin, who took over for Mike Dressel last month, said he is planning a training for the eight officers to take place during the break between semesters. The training will focus on tactical communication skills, report writing, patrol techniques and general security training.
Other areas of improvement Curtin aims to work on include making LCS more present on campus and integrating it into the campus community.
“Campus Safety officers are private security providers, not police officers,” Curtin said.
LCS officers are on campus to serve and protect the Linfield community, but they do have limitations on what they can and cannot do, Curtin said. Their main role is to uphold the Student Code of Conduct, which can be found in the Linfield Student Handbook.
For example, officers cannot detain people or limit their movement, but if an officer is a witness to a crime, he can detain the criminals until local authorities arrive.
Students also told the Review they felt too great an emphasis has been placed by officers on writing citations and not protecting students.
“We want students to complain to us; we think it makes us better,” Curtin said. “It is very hard to deal with rumors.”
Curtain said he wants to make sure officers are behaving properly and guarantees every complaint made will be investigated by him.
“I want to talk to people,” he said. “I don’t want the way we engage the community to be disrespectful.”
Curtin pressed that he is willing to talk to students whenever and wherever.
Students can also file comments or complaints online by going to linfield.edu/safety/contact and filling the form.