New Police Chief Begins Transition Process

The University of St. Thomas plans to step up the presence of on campus security by hiring several new officers for the university’s newly-formed police force, according to UST Police Chief James Tate.

Tate, who was hired to lead the department in February, is among three peace officers currently on the force, which is also staffed by Sergeant Martin  Dear and Sergeant Nathan Sexton.  Chief Tate says he plans on hiring three more peace officers by Nov. 1.   

Tate has worked previously at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and most recently at Lamar University in Beaumont.

Because UST is a small, open university in the middle of a big city, it faces unique security disadvantages that Tate says he hopes to mitigate through “proactive patrol techniques.”

“It’s the fact that our borders and our campus is an open campus,” Tate said. “There are no controlled access points to the campus, so anybody from anywhere at any point in time can find themselves on our campus.”

The UST police department is working with security in order to make the campus safer. The difference between the police officers and the security personnel are that the police officers are able to make arrests, write traffic citations and work accident reports. The security personnel will continue to give escorts across campus and unlock and lock buildings as necessary.

“If there is something that we can get done that does not necessarily require the presence of a police officer, but it is a service the community asks us to do, then I will ask the security guards to do that,”  Chief Tate said.

The police force will allow for more serious measures to be taken against sexual assault, minors possessing alcohol  and illegal drug possession. Chief Tate said that in the case of minors possessing alcohol, the contents will be destroyed, a report will be written and the individual will be referred to student affairs, unless there is some sort of extenuating circumstances. In the case of drug possession, there is a zero tolerance policy.

 In regards to sexual assault, Chief Tate recognizes that it is a very delicate subject and knows how to train police officers so that they can handle it as such.

“When I was at Lamar University as assistant chief, we realized that when it comes to investigating a sexual assault that the investigator(s) you assign need to have a special skill set in order to be able to make the victim feel comfortable enough to come forward and tell us what happened,” Tate said. “Police officers just out of academy do not have that skill set or training background. So there is a 40 hour course that we send officers to to help them be better prepared to conduct those types of investigations.”

UST students like the idea of an increased police presence.

“I think it is reassuring to have Harris County officers on campus,” said sophomore Katherine Quiroz. “Hopefully things will run more efficiently, and it will add to security. I think it is especially good for residents of Guinan, others who live on or near campus and people who work anywhere at UST to have that extra security and knowledge that there are professional, capable, police officers on campus.”  

Brittany Bigott, a UST sophomore, likes the idea of security and police working together to make the campus safer.

“I feel as if it is a good thing to have a police department on campus because we actually have a set authoritative group. It is an improvement for safety especially if you live on campus you feel better,”  Bigott said.

Overall, the university police will allow for a safer environment for students, faculty, and staff.

“My goal is to establish a credible police department -- one that is professionally run,” Tate said. “I just want people to know that although I am the chief, I really do believe that it is the UST community’s police department. I want people to feel like if there is ever an issue they can come talk to me about it, whether I am in the office or walking around campus.”