OAKDALE, N.Y.—Moving from a proprietary guard force to a contract firm is not always a decision based on economics. When Dowling College transitioned from an in-house security program to a contract security provider, the decision was largely due to clashes in culture between the security department and the college community.

Ralph Sommer, director of compliance for Dowling College, who acted as the liaison between the college and their contract guard company, AlliedBarton, said that the security department was no longer providing a positive influence on staff and students. “The security department had evolved into a confrontational type,” Sommer said. “They weren’t approachable and were more like an enforcement arm than a mentoring one.”

Especially on a college campus, he said, it is critical for security officers to be immersed in the community and create a sense of trust and reliability with the student body. “Having a good experience with law enforcement or authoritative figures in a positive nature rather than in a confrontational nature is advantageous for students in their growth and academic endeavors,” Sommer said. “In college, [security] is not so much law enforcement as it is mentoring and being approachable because kids are looking for surrogate parents basically, whether it’s in security or faculty, and you have to be approachable and help kids mature.”

And while the change in culture was a strong driving force for this transition, there were economic factors as well, said Sommer. “It’s cost effective because when it’s in-house you’re paying for benefits, uniforms, sick time,” he said. Going to a proprietary guard force reduces the college’s overhead expenses of maintaining a security department, but it can also enhance the college’s emergency response capabilities. “If you have a security force and say, the swine flu hits you bad, you’re generating enormous overtime costs, which cuts into your budget,” he said. “Where with a contract company you have a larger man-pool to get replacement people during emergencies.”

And while a contract guard force reduces some of the challenges of maintaining a propriety department, putting together a guard force still requires an in-depth interview process and “is not just a matter of acquiring bodies,” said Sommer.  It was also very important to develop a clear understanding of what the college needed in terms of training, he said.

Moving to a contract guard service not only improved the perception of the security force, but also streamlined processes like training and maintaining certification for officers. “When we had in-house department we were doing all the training and certification and just setting up the time to do the eight-hour training and 16-hour training meant we really had to juggle our schedules,” he said. “Whereas when an outside company is doing the training, it just makes it so much easier,” he said.

Since making the transition to a contract guard force, Sommer said he has had nothing but positive feedback from the college community. “The guards have embraced the environment and are happy working here and a few of them are even mentors for resident students,” he said.