The UCCS Police Department’s newly formed Community Advisory Council will hold their second semesterly meeting on April 1 to discuss better ways to engage with and serve UCCS.
UCCS Chief of Police Dewayne McCarver and Patrol Lieutenant Grant Lockwood said the council’s purpose is to provide transparency and encourage an open dialogue by bridging the communication gap between UCCS police and the campus.
In addition to finding better ways to serve UCCS, members will discuss campus-wide policies and review statistical data during this upcoming meeting.
The idea for this council stemmed from McCarver’s time as deputy chief of police in Hunstville, Alabama. He said in a follow-up email after his interview that he thought the council was worth bringing to UCCS.
“It was a very beneficial program for our department and community, and I wanted to establish one here for that reason,” he said.
McCarver hopes the council’s collaboration and diverse perspective will provide the police department with feedback so it can be more productive and create a strong relationship with the campus.
“Over the last years … there has been a little bit of a divide, and we’re really working to try to close that divide,” McCarver said. “The way we view ourselves as a police department, we are just part of the community.”
McCarver said that representatives were selected from the campus community to serve on the council back in May. When he was chancellor, Venkat Reddy selected two, and each vice chancellor selected one and the SGA president selected one.
“It’s important that I don’t choose, we want to make sure that it’s outside choices,” McCarver said. He emphasized to Reddy that he wanted a diverse selection of representatives.
As SGA’s student body president, Axel Brown currently holds the standing position and Director of Finance Amanda Ford holds the SGA-appointed position. They are the only two student representatives so far.
Here is a list of all of the council members so far: Amanda Allee, Amanda Ford, Axel Brown, Chris Beiswanger, Chris Valentine, David Siegel, Harper Johnson, Henriikka Weir, Jerilyn Taylor and Karlye Enkler.
McCarver said the council needs more student representation. He noted they are working with SGA to create a process to bring other students into the council, so it can have a variety of student perspectives and feedback. Brown and the rest of SGA is in charge of selecting at least one other student from the campus.
The council’s meeting last semester reviewed campus policy disclosures, records collection and retention and information dissemination categories to comply with the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to record campus crime statistics and safety policies. Their next meeting will take place in April.
Questions, comments and concerns regarding topics such as police interactions, crime statistic reports and administrative action should be directed to the council for review and further action to be taken place if the circumstances deem it necessary.
UCCS Police vechicle. Photo by Taylor Villalpando.