On Jan. 13, DU’s Department of Campus Safety (DCS) released a statement saying that “Campus Safety has contracted with G4S Security to provide additional patrols on and near campus.” Due to several armed robberies in the month of November, DCS has called in security help to increase the available manpower and deter armed criminals.

G4S’s help is crucial and their services have been used in the past. Without them, Campus Safety would not be able to maintain an equal street presence across DU’s Campus. It is a necessary precaution if they plan on reducing criminal activity on campus in order to keep DU students safe.

Campus safety recently took increased measures for student safety in response to a series of alarming armed robberies in the month of November. These measures included hiring G4S, a private security company, in addition to increasing the hours of Campus Safety officers shifts to ensure their was enough manpower on the streets. They plan to keep G4S as a necessary measure until new recruits to Campus Safety have finished their training in early February. It seems Campus Safety is doing all they can to keep as many eyes on the streets as possible.

G4S, one of the largest private security companies in the world, provides a variety of security services worldwide, from security at nuclear facilities to residential areas.

What was happening? It sounded like DCS had signed a deal with a company akin to Blackwater to provide security for DU. Needless to say this was a little discomforting, almost as if DCS had hired outside security to do their jobs for them. It felt like betrayal.

However, after a little bit of research, the case turned out to be nothing so incriminating, and that any cause for alarm upon hearing the involvement of out-sourced security on campus might just be due to misinformation.

The Clarion interviewed Sgt. James Johnston, Head of Community Partnerships & Training Coordinator. He said, “We log over 170 events a day, we handle over 60,000 incidents a year, and by contracting G4S, it allows us to serve all the needs of our community, such as investigations, without losing our street presence. It is very hard for such a small department to devote attention to all the areas of DU, so we decided to hire G4S, and since we have reduced the number of crimes on campus from a double digit number to a single digit number.”

He explained that G4S security officers serve only to observe and report. Their only job is to patrol, deferring all other actions, responses and calls to Campus Safety. This is understandable, as it would have sparked high controversy, if a student were to make a call to DCS and have someone else show up, it would be a scandal.

This use of G4S allows DCS to maintain strong authority on DU’s campus. If G4S were responding and showing up to calls, it would likely suggest weakness in DU’s security policies and manifest more and more mistrust between the student body and DU’s security department. By limiting the amount G4S can be involved in on-campus affairs, DCS can maintain its role as the unquestionable top security dog at DU, so that students know who to turn to.

When asked about the difference between private security companies and private university police departments, Sgt. Johnston replied, “We are actually private security. We are not a police department. All of our funding comes from the University, and the model of policing we do is very similar in Universities across the United States.

What sets us apart from a security company, is that we are not for-profit, and by being very internal, we are fully integrated with the University, and its departments.”

He also said it was improbable that security contractors would ever replace campus police departments as universities in general are trying to push for their safety departments to become armed and fully-sworn police officers. Campus Safety often falls somewhere in the middle, between a police force and a security contractor.

This can only mean good things for DU’s security, as bringing in more and more outside help would leave people suspicious of a private security companies intentions. By improving a local security force instead of replacing it with a global one, a modicum of trust can be built and maintained between DCS and DU’s students and faculty.

Although anyone’s initial reaction to hearing about the hiring of private security may be a cause for alarm, students can feel a lot safer knowing that not only is DCS working to keep us protected, but they are also not just hiring others to do their jobs for them. It is evident that they are doing what they can to help prevent further car crimes, and the polls so far prove that this seems to be working. As stated earlier, DCS have a lot to deal with in the space of a day, with very little room for leniency.

Hiring G4S is a necessary precaution to maintain authority and manpower during the time DCS needs to hire and train new officers.