When uniformed officers are seen on campus, whether it’s a traffic accident or an emergency, people often assume that a disturbance has occurred. To counteract this notion, the UW Police Department (UWPD) has created an initiative that focuses on connecting officers with the community, expanding their model of community oriented policing campus wide.

“We’re trying to get away from the notion that police officers are only there to respond to various calls for service,” said UWPD Chief of Police John Vinson.

As part of the department’s community policing initiative, officers will be assigned to patrol one of four sectors on campus. The new zoning is designed to establish relationships between officers and the community.

“For the most part, the sector will be their primary patrol area,” Vinson said. “The expectation is that they will be in those areas … getting to know the students in those respective areas, providing an additional resource or contact to the police department.”

The sectors are divided based on statistics of criminal activity over the past three years and the number of calls for service in each region. Officers will be chosen for the areas based on a variety of factors.

“Officers will be assigned based on desire and familiarity with the area, but also based on where the lieutenant feels they may fit best,” Vinson said.

During an emergency, or when officers in one sector are all responding to calls, however, the individual closest to an incident will respond, regardless of his or her assigned sector.

“The community should probably expect that they’re going to see more of our officers out and about,” said UWPD Lt. Craig Wilson. “We are requiring them to get out and meet the occupants of the buildings.”

Previously, officers conducted initial investigations and then deferred incidents to the UWPD’s detective unit for follow up, but as part of the new program, they have the additional duty of following many incidents from beginning to end.

“We feel by having the officers follow up for misdemeanor offenses, it will allow them to stay really connected with what’s happening in their specific sectors,” Vinson said.

The department’s detectives are now mainly responsible for investigating felony offenses, and reorganization within the department may be necessary.

“We’re going to be doing some evaluations over the next few months of assignments and duties, and we’ll review and determine how many detectives we need to retain,” Vinson said.

With the additional duties and responsibilities, the department expects a transition period as officers adjust to the program.

“I think one of the main challenges will be ensuring that the complaints are being followed up on in a timely manner,” Vinson said. “Because this is a different approach to our community policing initiative, we understand we will have some minor challenges along the way.”

The UWPD has already taken steps to increase visibility on campus and foster communication between police officers and students. In early July, the UWPD began the community policing initiative by stationing an officer at a desk in the HUB. The officers are there from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, primarily to interact with students.

The sector patrols are the UWPD’s next efforts to promote communication between the police force and the UW community.

Chris Boe, operations manager for the UW Medical Center’s Public Safety Department, is hopeful that the program will be an asset to security in the building. Due to its size and population, the medical center is the location for a large number of incidents on campus.

“They tried a similar thing a number of years ago, so it would be workable,” Boe said. “The biggest thing I’d be interested in is [having] officers who become much more familiar with the area and the people within that sector, rather than situations where the officer isn’t necessarily as familiar with the layout of the building, etc.”

As UWPD officers become more familiar with the people and buildings on campus this quarter, they are expected to interact with the community outside of responding to incidents.

“Don’t be alarmed,” Vinson said. “The more eyes and ears out there, the better for all of us.”

Reach reporter Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.