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news
CSULB police among
best in CSU system
By Chris Ledermuller
On-line Forty-Niner
Cal State Long
Beach's University Police received high marks for services
and conduct in a biennial customer survey conducted at 12
campuses in the California State University system, getting
the highest rating in nine of 18 categories.
The police surveys,
part of an initiative by the Chancellor's Office to improve
campus services, were conducted at CSULB and 11 other CSU
campuses: Bakersfield, Chico, Fresno, Hayward, Humboldt, Monterey
Bay, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and
San Luis Obispo.
University Police
received the highest ratings in the state for guides and escorts,
information request responses, complaint processes against
police employees, and requests to unlock doors. Public Safety
also had the highest ranking in five questions that dealt
with the conduct and value of police services.
Respondents also
gave CSULB the highest ratings in the state for their perception
of feeling safe on campus during both the day and night.
"I was very
pleased," Police Chief Jack Pearson said. "It kind
of gave some validation to do some of the things we were doing
well."
At CSULB, 310 students,
252 faculty members and 177 staff members answered nine items
dealing with specific services provided by campus law enforcement
and another nine items relating to respondents' perceptions
of police performance.
Donald Coan, director
of CSULB's Office of Institutional Research, said that while
CSULB has over 32,000 students and employees, a sampling of
739 respondents does not mean the survey group was too small.
"Don't let
that number trick you as unrepresentative of the campus view,"
he said, explaining that polls for political campaigns often
use a sample group similar in size to the police survey. "Given
what I know about the report, I believe it represents the
good work of the police department."
Methodology
The surveys asked
students, faculty and staff to rate services on a scale of
1 to 5, with higher numbers representing increased satisfaction.
The answers they gave were then calculated to form a mean
rating based on the same scale.
University Police
had the highest mean ratings out of all 12 surveyed campuses,
earning 4.43 for "evening guides/escort services,"
4.05 for "responding to information requests," 3.63
for "filing complaints against university police employees"
and 4.17 for "requesting a door to be unlocked."
The systemwide
mean ratings for all campuses were 3.93 for "evening
guide/escort services," 3.74 for "responding to
information requests," 3.28 for "filing complaints
against university police employees" and 3.86 for "requesting
a door to be unlocked."
The statewide mean
ratings were 4.62 for "university police services are
an essential part of the campus community," 3.73 for
"university police services contribute to the University's
mission of teaching and learning," and 3.95 for "university
police services employees are sensitive to the cultural diversity
of this campus."
The statement,
"I feel safe on campus," was to be rated for day
and night. CSULB received the highest mean ratings for both,
4.73 during the day and 3.84 at night. The statewide mean
was 4.57 for the day and 3.44 for the night.
In all 18 categories,
CSULB's mean ratings ranked above the statewide mean ratings.
Improvements
Pearson said the
survey showed some of University Police's strong points, but
it also revealed areas where the department needs to make
improvements.
"One of the
things that was brought up was presentations by our crime
prevention unit," he said. CSULB received a 3.82 mean
rating for crime prevention presentations. The highest mean
rating was 3.92.
"They do presentations
to every one of the University 100 classes," he said.
"We're getting more active in SOAR [Student Orientation,
Advising and Registration]. They're developing programs to
curb alcohol abuse and date rape."
Pearson said another
aspect of service that University Police hopes to improve
is the visibility of uniformed officers. He said the department
is planning to re-implement bicycle patrols on campus.
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