A meeting of the Marquette University Police Department (MUPD) Advisory Board was called to order in Ballroom D of the Alumni Memorial Union on Friday, October 27, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. Due and timely notice of the meeting, an agenda and draft minutes from the previous meeting were provided by email to each member of the Board in advance of the meeting. Notice of the meeting was also posted on the MUPD Advisory Board website. The meeting was open to the public.

Roll Call. Board members present in person at the meeting were Thomas Hammer, Chair of the Board and Associate Professor, Marquette University Law School; Keith Stanley, Executive Director of Avenues West and Near West Side Partners; Carol Trecek, Director of Continuing Education and Alumni Relations, Marquette University Dental School; Dr. Meghan Stroshine, Associate Professor in Social & Cultural Sciences, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences; and Ben Dombrowski, President of Marquette University Student Government (MUSG). Non-Board Members present at the meeting included Paul Mascari, Chief of MUPD; Jeff Kranz, MUPD Captain; Ruth Peterson, MUPD Captain; Katie Berigan, MUPD Captain; Andy Huber, MUPD Officer; Joe Erwin, MUPD Detective Lieutenant; and Jeff Kipfmueller, Senior Associate General Counsel (as legal counsel to the Board).

Consideration of Minutes of the April 18, 2017 Meeting. The minutes for the April 18, 2017 Board Meeting were approved, with one minor correction made.

Election of Advisory Board Vice-Chair for 2017-18 Academic Year. Ms. Trecek moved to nominate Mr. Stanley for the position of Board Vice-Chair, with a term of one year. The motion was seconded by Mr. Dombrowski and passed unanimously.

Police Chief’s Report.

Burglary Spree. The Chief indicated that there were a significant number of burglaries in the area since the last Board meeting. It was determined that 100% of the burglaries occurred at unlocked homes/apartments. MUPD tracked the pattern and apprehended a suspect last week. He was a repeat offender who was charged with, and confessed to, all 11 burglaries.

Annual Security Report. Earlier this month, MUPD distributed the Annual Security Report to the Marquette community, specifically all students and employees. This report is primarily driven by the Clery Act, a federal law. Although the robbery numbers increased in 2016, they are still less than the number of robberies in the surrounding area, overall. Burglaries stayed steady, and there was an increase in auto thefts, which is reflective of City and County trends. There was also a slight increase in thefts. There were no car jackings on campus. The Chief sent out a letter to multiple outlets clarifying the statistics and providing additional information on crimes in the MUPD patrol zone (which is wider than the Clery geographical areas).

Expansion of Patrol Zone. Chief Mascari indicated that MUPD has recently expanded its patrol zone, to include Marquette property that was not previously included (e.g., the Service Building, the APRC site, Valley Fields), and routes to/from those properties.

Pedestrian/Traffic Safety. The Chief indicated that MUPD is actively looking at various ways to improve pedestrian and traffic safety both on campus and in surrounding areas. Problems include speeding motorists on N. 16th and N. 17th Streets; MUPD is actively enforcing speed limits in these areas. MUPD is working with a traffic engineering consultant to look at streets and stoplight options (e.g., making N. 16th and N. 17th Streets two-way streets, which typically slows traffic). Speed bumps are not an option on non-residential streets, unfortunately.

Other MUPD Initiatives:

  • Nattie, the MUPD dog, is a unique community outreach initiative which has been extremely successful. While not trained for traditional police activities, Nattie enables significantly increased contact between MUPD and the community.
  • The new MUPD report management system, ProPhoenix, was rolled out in June 2017.
  • MUPD has implemented an “Adopt a Residence Hall” program, in which two specific police officers are assigned to each residence hall; the residents get to know these officers and may be more likely to reach out to them.
  • An MUPD Diversity Liaison for contacts with students of color was implemented; the Office of the Provost has been involved with this initiative. The idea is to have MUPD officers assigned as liaisons to work with student groups, attend events, get to know student members and provide familiar contacts. The Chief indicated that 26% of MUPD is made up of people with diverse backgrounds and 26% of MUPD are women.
  • MUPD is now carrying Narcan in response to the increasing opioid epidemic. Recently, MUPD officers administered Narcan and saved a woman’s life.
  • The Chief reported that MUPD was recently awarded 4th place in the National Campus Safety Summit Department of the Year Award List.

Implementation of Body Cameras. The Chief indicated that MUPD is not where it had hoped we to be at this point with respect to the implementation of body cameras. Axon, one of the leading body camera companies, had initially indicated that it would provide free cameras to police departments, including MUPD. Unfortunately, this offer was much more popular than Axon thought it would be, and this free offer is no longer available to us. Consequently, MUPD is looking at different funding solutions for body cameras. This development will likely increase the project cost by more than $30,000.

Public Comments. None.

Other Business. None.

Selection of Next Meeting Date. The next Board Meeting was tentatively set for Friday, December 1, 2017. Location to be announced.

Adjournment. Ms. Trecek moved to adjourn, Mr. Dombrowski seconded. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by the Chair at 11:35 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeffrey M. Kipfmueller

Associate General Counsel