Looney Rough Draft

Carl Looney has served his community nearly all his life, starting at the age of 18. Working with the Clark County Sherriff’s Department for 30 years and serving in every department, Looney now holds the position of Chief of Police and Security for Wittenberg University. Though Wittenberg is a small campus with less than 2,000 students, Looney oversees 13 fulltime officers.

The relationship between students and police on campus has been the “us against them” mentality for some time now and is something Looney wants to change. “I don’t want it to be us against them,” he said.

Students are skeptical of police and their intentions when they see them around campus, especially during the later hours, but Looney assured us that their intentions are to simply look out for the students. Officers “aren’t trying to ‘get’ the students but rather find the element that doesn’t belong,” said Looney. That element he specified isn’t just ‘townies’ or local people from Springfield but also students who prey upon other students. According to the Crime Report produced by the police and security office at Wittenberg a majority of crime is committed in dorms in which non- students do not have access.

Frequently Looney spoke of taking a proactive approach to prevent those “elements” from taking advantage of the students. This proactive approach has yielded results according to the Crime Report. Burglaries on campus decreased significantly from 29 crimes in 2006 to 19 in 2008.

The Crime Report also indicated the alcohol infractions are the biggest problem Looney encounters here at Wittenberg. The number of incidents of alcohol infractions has decreased significantly. In 2006 there were 210 infractions and then in 2008 there were a reported 106. The number of cases cut in half in only two years. Whether this is due the proactive approach from Looney or the attitude of the students is unknown but the numbers indicate a change on campus.

High visibility on campus is another approach Looney reported as a contributing factor to the reduced numbers on the crime report. He believes that just being seen on campus is a big deterrent for crime.

Looney doesn’t just consider cruisers patrolling campus as visibility but also wants his officers to mingle with the students. He gives his officers vouchers to eat with the students so that the officers have a chance to see the students in a different light and vice versa.