NU works deal with Northfield police

Norwich University and the Northfield Police Department are currently working together on a memorandum of understanding regarding police presence on campus, according to the university officials.

"What we are trying to say with this memorandum of understanding," said Brigadier General Michael Kelley, vice president of student affairs at Norwich, "is we will provide our students if you want to interview them."

According to Kelley, the administration has become "concerned" about certain instances where the police have entered school grounds to interview students.

While the actions of the police by coming onto campus and entering dorms to interview students are not illegal, the administration wants to prevent disruptions to students during hours that are "not conducive to conducting official business."

The Northfield Police Department will be granted access to interview students for non-emergency investigations by appointment, according to Kelley. This policy will be in place of the police department entering dormitories or other campus property without the knowledge of the university administration.

"The MOU was requested by Norwich officials," said Chris Outten, Northfield chief of police.

Matthew Ziniti, a 22-year-old senior, business major from Mansfield, Mass., views the memorandum as a positive step from the university to prevent its students from being disrupted by police presence during non-emergency situations.

"I feel that the police calling the commandant's (office) first, is a good idea," Ziniti stated, "We don't want the police just coming in unannounced interviewing anyone at a random time."

According to Outten, the memorandum will be used as an agreement on how the police will operate for "certain circumstances on campus."

"If we need to go speak to a student, we will call them (Norwich administration) and set up a time," Outten said. "That is what they requested and that really is not a problem for us to accommodate that."

Norwich administration felt it necessary that an agreement between the organizations be implemented due to incidents in the past. The administration has questioned whether certain situations could have been "handled" in a different manner, by both the university and the police department by working better together.

"This year a couple of things started out that didn't seem to be working quite right," Kelley said, "let's work with him (Outten) to develop a protocol so we all know what each other is doing."

While the university administrators welcome the support of the police department, they do not want to grant unrestricted access to campus and students, according to Kelley.

 Police should treat Norwich the same as if they were interacting with a private homeowner, Kelley said.

"We are talking about trying to treat the Norwich campus much like I would treat my home and my property if I were at home," Kelley said.

Kelley emphasized that roads on campus property are private roads and should be treated as such.

"Can you park in my driveway if you are the police in order to do a radar speed check?  I don't think so," Kelley said, "Can you park on the road in front of my house and do a speed check? Absolutely."

Outten stated that the memorandum has requested that the police department not patrol the university campus unless there's an immediate emergency or they are conducting an investigation following a crime.

  "As far as patrolling for no reason, random patrols, they've asked us not to do that," Outten said. "They've asked their security force to take over that part."

Dave Magida, Norwich's chief administration officer who oversees the university security force, sees the partnership between the university and the police department as a positive one.

"Clearly there is a close relationship between Norwich security and the police department," Magida stated. "It is a great relationship between the two (organizations)."

While the memorandum might have come as a surprise to the Northfield and campus community, according to Outten they are common between police departments and other colleges.

"It's up to the individual colleges," Outten stated. "The ones that I know locally are Middlebury College and Dartmouth College."

Since the original story on this issue was published by the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus on Nov. 2, Outten has had only one incident that negatively impacted his job.

"A student thought that he couldn't be stopped on campus, a traffic stop," Outten said, "I assumed he is basing that on the article, that Norwich is a safe-haven."

Outten emphasizes that the university is not a "safe-haven" for students who break the law, that the provisions do not precede the safety of others.

According to Ziniti, police presence on campus is "unnecessary."  Ziniti commends the on-campus security force for its work and the Corps of Cadets, who perform guard duty on campus to ensure that students are safe during the evening hours.

"I think that overall, Norwich is a safe campus," Ziniti said, "There is no need to use a police force unless there is a medical or emergency issue."

The administration and the police department are working on the second draft, according to Kelley.

"Version two is down with the police for their review," Kelley stated. "We hope to get this instituted fairly quickly."

Once the agreement is approved and signed, it will be disseminated to students and their families, so that all understand what the university is trying to accomplish, Kelley stated.