Although they are not carrying weapons or driving police cars, as of last Sunday, eight criminal justice majors have been patrolling the University in full uniform as campus student officers in an effort to make Nicholls the safest university in the nation.
Applications were sent out to 171 students to participate in the campus student officer program but only eight were chosen. These eight students were hired as student workers to assist the campus police department.
Grady L. Morris, Sr., chief of campus police, said, “We’re getting the best and the brightest of the criminal justice program, and we’re offering them as ambassadors for this program. They’re going to be expected to sell the campus student officer program.”
The campus student officer program is an offshoot of the newly implemented community-oriented police and teen concept initiative. It’s an attempt to get students involved in the safety and security of the Nicholls campus.
“We feel that getting students involved would go a long way in bringing the University from a reaction area law enforcement to a preventative law enforcement,” Morris said. “The students will basically act as the ears and the eyes of the police department.”
The students will run this program. A head student officer and an assistant head student officer have been selected.
The students will come under the control of the shift commander on each given workday, but the scheduling and the accountability of pay will be run by the head student officer.
The job description of student officers consists of protecting the life and property of the Nicholls campus community through foot patrol, mounted bike patrol and vehicle patrol.
Students will be required to work one day out of the week from 3 to 11 p.m., in addition to weekends and special events.
The first responsibility of student officers will be to assist with dispatching. Student officers will also work in one of the three zones on campus with a certified campus police officer. Morris said the student officers and the police officers will be working hand in hand as problem solvers, not reactionaries.
Morris said it has been needed for a long time because the university police department should not be looked upon as the sole system that can solve crime on campus. “It is going to take a community effort.”
The best of the student officers will be given an opportunity to attend the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office academy to receive POST certification.
Craig Webre, Lafourche Parish Sheriff, said this program seems like a sensible idea and that his agency would gladly support it. “To make it really work and to graduate a truly marketable student, the Academy should be evaluated for appropriate college credit and count towards the degree,” Webre said.
After completion of the academy, student officers would be able to carry a weapon and possess arrest powers. “They can take this certificate and walk in any law enforcement agency in the United States and pretty much be assured a job,” Morris said.
Students that are not POST certified will be prohibited from engaging in any physical activity. The student officers are not responsible to break up fights. Instead, the program is designed for them to spot a potential problem and then to relay the information to a certified police officer.
Students were required to attend a three-day training block and will receive a manual containing their specific job duties.
The head student officer is Tawaski Wells of Jeanerette, and the assistant head student officer is Neil Abbott of Bourg.
Morris said the student officers selected are a good representation between the cross-section of the university: male, female, black and white. “I wanted everyone to have a voice in this,” Morris said.
Wells said he applied for this job to learn more about the system because he plans on being a police officer one day.
The following criteria were used for student officer selection: full-time student, age 18, U.S. citizen, valid driver license, good moral values, no felony convictions and good physical conditions.
“I think what you’ll see are men and women at Nicholls that really want the best for the University, and that’s what it’s all about,” Morris said.