LMPD 4th District - Partners with U of L - June 21, 2006

Old Louisville more secure

Old Louisville residents are praising security help this summer from a big neighbor the University of Louisville.
With most of the Belknap campus's 21,000 students away for the summer, university police officials have reassigned two security officers from patrols of empty campus parking lots to a neighborhood area roughly bounded by Floyd, Fourth and Hill streets and Cardinal Boulevard.
Clad in bright yellow jerseys, the security officers canvas the area on foot in two shifts between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. University officers also make unscheduled drives through the neighborhood.
Longtime Lee Street resident Herb Fink said the effort is appreciated.
"I've been hearing excellent and outstanding things about them," Fink said. "We are putting out the welcome mat for them, and they seem to appreciate that we acknowledge they are here."

Differences are...

Unlike the university's police officers, the security officers do not have arrest powers or carry firearms, but are trained in CPR and first aid.
If they encounter trouble, they radio university police, who in turn respond and notify Louisville Metro Police.
University Public Safety Director Wayne Hall said the arrangement is part of a year-round partnership between the university and the Louisville Metro Police Department through its Fourth Division. The partnership was formed after a rash of student robberies and thefts last spring around the University Park apartment complex near Eastern Parkway.

And.....

During the fall and spring semesters, a female plainclothes university security officer has patrolled the Central Avenue area, leading to several police arrests for solicitation.
As part of the same effort, university officers have been temporarily shifted to the university's downtown medical complex to combat car break-ins there.
Hall said the thought behind the Old Louisville patrol is simple what helps Old Louisville helps the university.
"We're not a gated community. What affects Old Louisville affects us," he said. "It seems to be working. We've had no serious problems on campus."

Reporter Sheryl Edelen can be reached at (502) 582-4621.

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