Student Patrol was a paid job for the police department on campus that consisted of 13-15 students who would patrol parts of the campus in varying shifts. The main purposes of the Student Patrol was to be "our eyes and ours ears" and to check on secure/unsecure buildings, according to Chief of Police David Finnie.
The paid student position was placed on hold due to the "financial issues at the university and my budget being cut,” said Finnie. “We also lost staff and were unable to replace them."
Wright State's police department receives an allotted amount of money per year and a part of it went to the Student Patrol workers but due to budget cuts, the money went to the reserves instead.
The Student Security Council differs from Student Patrol as it is an upcoming group of 12 members from various student organizations on campus who meet twice a semester to "discuss the challenges students face on campus working with law enforcement to prepare students for these challenges and to bridge the gap between students and law enforcement," according to Finnie
Finnie said he met with the African American Residential Caucus (AARC) a month ago and "received fresh, innovative ideas" from members regarding important issues. He also mentioned how an AARC member brought up the suggestion of student volunteers from organizations to help patrol the tunnels because they were concerned about the lack of cameras and the reported/unreported crimes that go on.
The group would still be labeled as Student Patrol with no new name changes. "I am sure we'll bring it back. It just depends on when the university gets more of a financial success of where we need to be – of where we used to be," Finnie said.
