The Undercurrent staff has accused Campus Security of conducting an unauthorized search of their office in the early morning hours of Jan. 27. It is alleged that two security officers ransacked desks, file cabinets and mail boxes apparently in search of narcotics. Further evidence of vandalism consisted of the spilling of machine ink on about 700 comic books stored in the press room for later distribution, yielding damages estimated at about $250. The alleged entry occurred at 4:45 a.m. and lasted for approximately 10 minutes.
The incident was witnessed by Thomas Lundquist, an Undercurrent printer who was working late in the office that night.
"I had the feeling something wasn't right, so I crawled underneath a table in the back," explained Mr. Lundquist. "Uniformed policemen came in, looked around and walked out. A few minutes later they came back, started rummaging through the desks, and spilled oil over the comic books," he continued.
Look for dope
"They were making remarks about the condition of the office," said Mr. Lundquist. "They said things like ‘Look at these floors' and ‘What a bunch of ****sucking pigs' and ‘Let's look for some dope.'" The witness feels that while the officers may have had some original purpose for coming into the Undercurrent office, their return visit was to "tear up the office and have some fun."
The next day, Assistant Director of Security Leon Griffin asked Mr. Lundquist to come to his office in an attempt to identify the officers involved. Although no positive identification was made, Mr. Griffin apparently contacted the officers who were on duty Thursday night. Mr. Griffin later informed Undercurrent that the two officers would be brought up on charges via the state Civil Service review procedure, set down in the lengthy if complicated Article 75 of the Civil Service Law. The names of the officers involved will not be made public until the formal charges are brought up sometime this week.
Two factions
Mr. Griffin refused comment on any aspect of the Undercurrent incident, claiming it would endanger the hearing. However, Undercurrent news director John Stiny feels Mr. Griffin's goal is the overall upgrading of campus security, and his silence is designed to ensure that the two officers are dismissed. "I think he wants to shepherd this hearing through and get rid of these guys," commented Mr. Stiny.
Mr. Stiny feels there is a split in the Campus Security force between two factions, the better educated, more qualified officers, and the less qualified officers left over from the old days, when security standards were lower. He further feels that the existence of permanent shifts leads to the less qualified officers being put on the night shift, which is naturally less desirable. "I think Griffin and Glennon are trying to upgrade the security force, and in doing so, would like to see these less qualified officers moved out," Mr. Stiny said.
Nighttime incidents
The alleged ransacking of the Undercurrent office is yet another incident that the Committee on Campus Security will have to consider in trying to arrive at its recommendations. There have been many other incidents involving campus security, a recent one being an incident where security officers allegedly used a blackjack and "excessive violence" on an undergraduate student in the dorms, resulting in six stitches. Oddly enough, many of these incidents have occurred at night, which many observers feel is patrolled by the more incompetent section of Campus Security.
Mr. Stiny stressed that Campus Security has been very cooperative in investigating the incident, which he views as isolated. Mr. Griffin did comment that incidents that undermine the overall Campus Security image were resented by the force. To pursue the theory of the "incompetent section" of security, it will be important to note, when the names of the officers are made public, if any were involved in past security incidents.
In a later development, three security officers entered the Undercurrent office in the early morning of Feb. 4 and proceeded to take four or five Polaroid shots. The people from Undercurrent said their impression was that one of the men was a union representative. When informed of the early morning visit, Campus Security dispatched an investigator who proceeded to take statements from two of the staff.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
SUMMARY: Two campus security officers were charged by the Undercurrent staff of conducting an unauthorized search of the Undercurrent office and causing damage upon doing so.
