Crime and Recruitment

Crime on the campus is many things: a bane to the administration, a source of fear for students and ... a selling point for University Police?

Most police statements cast the school's reputation for crime as overblown and undeserved, but a look at one University Police recruitment video reveals a divide between how the campus is portrayed to the larger public and to potential recruits.

Among the most startling revelations? Police apparently think those downtown riots - if regrettable, dangerous and costly, of course - are at least a little exciting, too.

"If we were doing this as a public relations video to the general university population, it would have been produced in a different way," said Maj. James Hamrick, who oversees the department's recruitment and training. "But what you have to keep in mind is the purpose of the video, why it was produced and who we were targeting."

Featuring footage of officers suiting up in full-body gear to combat rowdy crowds at the 2005 riot after the men's basketball team beat Duke, a chunk of the video portrays sporting events as often becoming civil disturbances and explains how officers are trained to handle them.

"When the front line becomes the city street and crowd control becomes riot control, you can put together all the tools and all the training," says the video's narrator. "One officer. One team. One mission: taking back the street."

University Police have bemoaned rankings that place the university as one of the nation's most dangerous and said crime is no more pervasive here than other urban campuses.

While that message is reflected in a small portion of the video, images of high-speed car chases and officers firing weapons dominate the film.

After tranquil images of officers riding bikes in front of McKeldin Mall and chatting with students at California Tortilla in downtown College Park, officers recount their work on the force.

"It takes a special individual to do the things that a police officer is called upon to do," Richard Mugerwa, a university police officer, said in the video.

Then the film cuts to an officer firing multiple shots from a rifle.

The video, which is readily available on the department's website, was also disseminated on YouTube. It can also be found on MySpace Video.

Monique Mitchell Turner, an associate professor in the communication department, explained the video is most likely effective for targeting the audience police are looking for, though she hasn't seen the video firsthand. But she also cautioned it could send mixed messages to students.

As a group, she said, it "seems logical" that police tend to be "sensation-seekers," meaning they find new, exciting experiences intriguing.

"Messages that highlight sensational activity are more effective to sensation-seekers," Turner said. "I would think that that would be good for police officers, but at the same time, if students see that video, they are going to say, 'Hey, that's horrible.'"

When the video was first released at the end of 2005, Hamrick and University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said there was some discontent. Student groups informally complained that the video cast the university - and primarily the student body - in a negative light.

Police disagree.

"The stuff in the video is reality," said Dillon. "You're targeting people that want to get into law enforcement. Our recruits need to understand that this stuff does happen."

Dillon added that no student groups took a position on the video or mobilized against it.

"It was more of just grumbling that people heard anecdotally," Dillon said. "There wasn't anything in writing where a student group filed a letter with us or anything like that."

When neighboring agencies can offer higher salaries, larger departments and more opportunities for specialized work, Hamrick said, University Police need to convey the message that working for the force is exhilarating.

"Most people who are looking for a career in law enforcement ... don't want to go to a department where, basically, there is no action," Hamrick said. "They want to go to a department where there's a variety of skills being put to use."

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