Campus police to ramp up parking enforcement efforts with student workers

Two student workers will help campus police with issuing parking tickets and other general office work this semester. 

While the students will not be not allowed to work on anything confidential, they will help decrease the number of people who illegally park on campus, Chief of Police Greg Giltner said. 

Giltner and human resources will select the students through an interview process. According to Giltner, the only requirement for the position is to be an Oklahoma Christian University student willing to learn. 

Once the team selects the students, they will ride with the police officers around campus to get familiar with their daily tasks and to become aware of problem areas on campus. 

To avoid getting tickets, the students, faculty and staff must have their car registered, according to Giltner. They can do it online at the Oklahoma Christian University website or pick up a permit at the Campus Police office. 

“If it is faculty and staff, or fire lane, that is a $200ticket,” Giltner said. “If we have a situation and a fire truck has to get in there, or an ambulance, that causes us trouble.” 

Sophomore Paulina Dziubek said some of the parking rules could be rethought.

 “Some restrictions are a little complicated,” Dziubek said. “Like freshman and sophomores that cannot move their cars during the day. What if they have an emergency, or if they have to go somewhere, like an appointment.”

According to Giltner, campus police is only issuing warning tickets at the moment. There will be announcements sent out to the students, faculty and staff once they start taking action. 

Freshman Gabby Goddard is uncertain about the idea of having students giving out tickets to other students. 

 “I would not like to be given a ticket by a student,” Goddard said. “To me, a student should not have as much authority as the campus police.”

 Dziubek said she does not have a problem with the situation. 

 “They are doing their jobs, so I would have to accept it,” Dziubek said. “It is like if your friend was a policeman and he caught you speeding, so he would have to give you a ticket. For me, it is the same thing.” 

Giltner affirmed the student workers will make the police officers’ jobs more efficient. 

 “When the student workers are writing tickets, they will write probably 30 to 40 a week,” Giltner said. “The officers are busy doing other stuff. ”

 Giltner said hiring student workers is not only helpful to the campus police team but also beneficial to the students. 

 “I think it bridges a gap between students and law enforcement,” Giltner said. “We are here to make the campus safe. I think it is just an opportunity for us to have a positive influence on them, and for them to have a positive relationship with law enforcement.” 

Goddard has never received a ticket and said she hopes to keep it this way. However, she admits she is not aware of all the parking rules on campus. 

 “It would be better to have a clear explanation of parking rules to follow so that I’m not always anxious about being penalized or fined,” Goddard said. “I don’t want to be penalized for rules I do not know of.” 

 Here is a full list of campus police parking restrictions. 

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