Campus police station move hits roadblock

Jennifer Stewart
Contributing Writer

Plans for the University of West Florida Police Department to relocate are at a standstill.
“ We’re still in a holding pattern as far as funds go,” said UWF Chief of Police Ronald Seacrist.
Arrangements have been underway for some time for the police department to move out of Building 19 and closer to the residence halls. But the estimated cost to renovate the latest proposed site, Building 95, is more than what officials expected.
“ The estimate came in significantly higher than what we have funding for,” Seacrist said.
Miles Sampson, assistant director of Architectural and Engineering Services for UWF, said the University's original estimate was more than $626,000, but a final estimate from the local Stoa/Carlos Law architectural firm put the cost at more than $913,000.
The proposed location in Building 95 on Campus Lane houses the University’s central receiving offices.
Senior Joe Yerger, a business management major who lives in the Southside Residence Hall, said he believes moving campus police closer to student residences is a good idea. “The police station would be most beneficial in a central location, closest to Martin, Pace and New halls,” the 21-year-old said.
Building 95 is the only building officials have gotten an estimate for renovating thus far. “That’s the only suitable space on campus right now,” Sampson said.
Funding for the project would come from state funding and Public Education Capital Outlay.
Seacrist said he was first approached about a possible relocation when he became chief of police about two years ago. He is in favor of campus police being closer to student residences.
Crime on campus occurs largely in the student housing complexes, according to UWF reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Education from 2000-02, the last years for which statistics are available.
The latest serious offense reported to campus police was an armed robbery at Village West apartments that took place April 18.
Jay Poe, a 24-year-old criminal justice major who lives in Village East apartments, believes a decentralized community-policing approach might be the best solution. Being in the middle of campus is not crucial, he said.
“ They need to be accessible,” Poe said.
However, another option officials are considering is to build a brand new station for the police department closer to the residence halls.
Architects estimate the cost of building a new facility for campus police to be $700,000, Sampson said. The figure is significantly less than the cost to renovate Building 95.
But funding is not secured for either project.
“ If we had any money available, we would have proceeded,” Sampson said.