MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1999

University police rises from humble beginnings

By Michelle Devera

On-Line Forty-Niner

When University Police Sgt. Mike Wood came to Cal State Long Beach in November 1979, he and his colleagues were driving state relinquished police cars.

"The cars had more than 50,000 miles on them with a light bar rigged to the top and a radio inside."

In 1972, the University Police Station, located on Palo Verde Avenue, was simply a security service referred to as a public safety division.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the police department boasts a holding of eight squad cars: six marked, two unmarked and a mobile command center.

These officers also tote around two main types of fire arms: 40-caliber, semi-automatic hand guns and 12-gauge shot guns.

The police force has 21 sworn officers, not including the 38 students involved in the Community Service Officer program, a night escort service started in 1994.

A recent addition to the police department is the live-scan fingerprinting equipment, Wood said.

"It [the fingerprinting device] sends the prints to the department of justice in Sacramento through an email modem process," said Brian Morgon, a civilian staff member. "You put your hand on the glass pad and it reads it on a TV screen. It takes one to two days instead three to four weeks."

Another new addition is a Univerisity Police substation. Located on the second floor of the University Student Union, the station has a central position on campus to better assist the needs of students.

The police headquarters also plans to remodel and expand its building to two stories. Future plans will also encompass implementing laptop computers into each police car, Wood said.