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Virginia Tech's security has been under scrutiny lately, receiving commendations and criticisms alike.
Morale has degraded
After a letter to the Collegiate Times stated that "Tech doesn't want to expend finances toward improving its campus security until it is forced to," complaints about the state of Tech's campus watch and security guards' equipment have surfaced.
Campus watch members and security guards work under the Virginia Tech Police Department and are meant to complement the campus' sworn police officers.
"Campus watch is designed to be a few extra eyes and ears around the campus for the police department as an overall program, and their intent is to provide security for residence hall areas," said Deborah Morgan, lieutenant with the VTPD.
Campus watch is sponsored by residential and dining programs; however, the security guards are employed and paid by the VTPD, Morgan said. Campus watch includes the lock up guards, the building guards, and the safe ride van.
Campus watch is responsible for walking around residence halls to make sure doors aren't propped open, reporting anything that happens around that area to the police department, checking the emergency call boxes to make sure they work properly, manning some of the buildings they have on campus, and more.
"They're issued the same equipment, like radios, as the police officers," Morgan said. "Their uniforms are different because you have to differentiate between the police and the security guards."
However, Steven Miller, Blacksburg citizen and friend to some employees of campus watch, said that the program is not getting all the resources it needs.
"My beef with campus watch is they're not being supplied with the equipment that they need and the training that they need to do the job," Miller said.
Recently, Miller wrote a letter to the CT entitled "little has changed in terms of security since April."
An anonymous source from campus watch said that he is actively looking for another job because the employees are not getting the resources to do this job. He also said the he is not the only one from campus watch that is looking for another job.
The source said that some of the employees have not been given proper training such as a diffusing bad situation training programs and a safe-defense training program. He also said that some of the employees do not have flashlights, and the building guards who do perimeter checks sometimes stumble on steps because they can't see.
Morgan disputed the claim that campus watch does not have adequate equipment. She said that employees are issued jackets, pants, a waist belt, the lock-up tools they need, boots and anything else that the would need to perform their job.
However, the campus watch worker said that the uniform that the employees must wear, consisting of a short sleeve shirt and a pair of cargo pants, are getting holes and the pockets are falling off. He also said that the equipment is sometimes faulty.
"The radios aren't trustworthy," he said. "They are six, seven years old and pretty much police hand-me-down radios with NiCad-rechargeable battery packs. By the end of the shift, the batteries' charge is gone."
Because some of the radios cease to work toward the end of the shift, some employees are forced to use their personal cell phones to code-in to dispatch, or signify that things are all right on their end, he said. However, the source also mentioned that according to the police handbook, the use of personal equipment is prohibited.
"They're degrading campus watch to a feel-good existence because we don't have the training or equipment to do the job," he said. "Morale has gotten very low among campus watch because they feel, 'what good am I?' We're being treated like a feel-good measure."
Leave a comment 16 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
We have enough oinks around campus, they're doing a good job!
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Hokies don't need security guards walking around campus. The fact is that these people come from the lower part of society and have never had to take care of their own uniforms. After months of abuse, on their part, they look for someone else to blame because of their own lack of responsibility. This Steve Miller character does not have a firm grasp of reality. He is the type to complain and complain about things that don't matter. Please don't grant people like him interviews, it only enrages them more. Did the CT just write an article about worn out pants on minimum wage security guards? I hope steve miller and the security guards walk out and never come back.
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Since when does writing a letter to the editor qualify one to be an expert on any subject? This guy has a beef, understood. But his opinion, third party as it is, should not even be presented in the article. The article is about the Police Department and the Campus Watch individuals, not some random Bburg citizen who is "following the security systems in Virginia". What a joke! This "newspaper" continues to amaze me with antagonistic, word of mouth type rumor spreading, not news reporting. Amazing.
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I am sure this security guards would not be complaning if there where not reason to, most of your students are rich little spoiled brats who have not entered the work force and have no clue of having to work. It is so unreal to me that people think that the only college in Virginia, is VT,We do have other great colleges.
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Where in this article does it address the income level and work experience of Virginia Tech students? It is so unreal to me that people post comments about Tech students loving their school too much on articles about campus security.
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You people that come onto this web site every day and read articles only to complain, commenting that you never read the CT are idiots. If you don't like it, why don't you do something about it? You just read articles and then post, usually anonymously, about how much you hate the CT and how you never read it. If you never read it, why are you always on here commenting about how bad it sucks? Get a life.
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obviously there's an issue if the newspaper is gonna write about it on their front page. theres more to it than just a letter to the editor, someone else from campus watch talked about the crappy situation but chose to be anonymous because he didnt want to get fired! why can't more people recognize this and work to fix the situation...i've seen those walking security guards and they really did make me feel safe!
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Someone in upper tech administration needs to get a clue. We already had one major tragedy on campus. You would think that security would be beefed up with good equipment, not run with salvation army hand me downs!
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ignorant response on Nov. 30th Sahara Parker.....losers in the world today....(laughs)
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I'm tired of hearing the "Go Hokies" BS that is prevalent throught the blacksburg area. The truth is quite different. Virginia Tech is all about profit for the state. They don't pay their employees well, they choose not to spend money to improve security (even following what occured on April 16th), and yet they have money for things like additional clock faces on the tower at the Alumni center (how many thousands of dollars got tossed down that rathole, hmmm virginia tech?) On the one hand we hear about budgetary crisis, and how vtech needs to cut funding because the state has cut theirs, and on the other we have President Steger "earning" 450k plus per year, and donating nothing back to tech to improve things during such a "budgetary crunch." Just what does one do to deserve more then a thousand dollars a day, including hollidays and weekends? The student body at Virginia Tech really needs to wake up, there are no two ways about it. Go hokies...give me a break...
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" Hokies don't need security guards walking around campus.... The fact is that these people come from the lower part of society and have never had to take care of their own uniforms. " What a knucklehead. What hokies need is a few less spoiled rich kids who don't have a clue about the real world.
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If the situation was a real crisis and the "anonymous" members of the security patrols actually thought that they were a vital part of the community, they would not be afraid to voice their opinions. Some nameless local is writing letters to the school newspaper? That strikes of an old man living in a house full of cats with too much time on his hands. Several people have mentioned this clock tower, if the clock tower put people out of a job I'm fine with it and I suspect 99 percent of the people who read this are. If they weren't there would be more vocal objection to this fact. Steger's salary is too much? This complaint is mentioned by every individual who is upset with they way things work. What Steger had to go through from 16 April until he leaves as president deserves far more than what he is getting paid. Some also think that crime is prevented by the night-time security folks. I have never read about crime being prevented by these guys. I'm not saying it hasn't, but my guess is they break up some yelling matches and help escort some drunk kids home. Ut Prosim "Just what does one do to deserve more than one thousand dollars a day." - This quote made by someone who is not a University President.
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"Steger's salary is too much? This complaint is mentioned by every individual who is upset with they way things work. What Steger had to go through from 16 April until he leaves as president deserves far more than what he is getting paid. " I didnt know that President Steger himself read and commented on the Collegiate Times. You learn something new every day. How'd you earn your 8 grand last week Pres Steger?
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gl9HUh Wow, it can be truth
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