it is unclear whether Councilman David Goldfarb’s claim – that some incidents are "dealt with administratively on the university campus," rather than being reported to proper authorities – is part of the office’s policy
By: Nick Norlen
Princeton University’s Public Safety Office Deputy Director Charles Davall said Monday that his office is aware of the borough’s concerns about its reporting style and is eager to attend the future meeting announced by Mayor Mildred Trotman last week.
Although he also offered clarification on some of the issues that have been raised, it is unclear whether Councilman David Goldfarb’s claim that some incidents are "dealt with administratively on the university campus," rather than being reported to proper authorities is part of the office’s policy.
Public relations officials at the university referred that question to Public Safety Director Steven Healy, who was out of the office and unavailable for comment. However, they said he would be available before the meeting with the borough, tentatively scheduled for late October or early November.
Mayor Trotman announced that upcoming session last week, stating that the borough council’s annual meeting with Princeton University representatives will include discussion of how Public Safety interacts with the borough police department.
And Princeton Borough Police Chief Anthony Federico made a presentation on that issue to the county prosecutor’s office in July.
He said last week that the prosecutor’s office has reviewed his presentation and has told him they are "in the process of putting together some kind of a plan."
However, he has declined further comment on the situation.
Apart from Mr. Goldfarb’s assertion that the public safety office "uses its own discretion with respect to reported offenses," more specific allegations have not been made by borough officials.
Mr. Davall said Monday that he believes the concerns are the result of communication issues, rather than improper procedure.
"I think a lot of it has to do with communication and the lack of communication," he said.
Although Chief Federico has said that the public safety office received certification to enforce laws as a police department approximately a year ago, Mr. Davall said the public safety office "has been a fully sworn police department since the 70s."
However, he said in the last few years the office has taken a "wider role with enforcing laws and being a full service public safety agency."
"Prior to a couple of years ago, what we would do for crimes is call the borough or township in. The Public Safety office wouldn’t take an active role for investigating the case for criminal purposes," he said.
But since then, the office has expanded its coverage to include thefts, minor burglaries, criminal mischief and simple assaults, Mr. Davall said.
In January, the office started to investigate all burglaries, he said.
But Mr. Davall said there are still certain crimes that public safety does not handle, including aggravated assault, sexual assault, homicide and robbery.
"Essentially, we have the responsibility for handing the rest of the stuff," he said.
Still, cases are communicated to the local municipality where the crime was committed, he said.
"We supply the local police department with copies of reports to be included in their statistics," he said, noting that local departments in turn report their crimes to the state police. "If we were to investigate a burglary that happens to occur within the political subdivision of Princeton Borough, our officers would investigate it, write a report, and a copy of that would be sent to the borough."
Despite his concerns, Mr. Goldfarb said he will look to glean a better understanding of the situation from the upcoming meeting between the two entities.
Mr. Davall said his office will do the same.
"We’ll look forward to the meeting," he said.