MSU police Officer Lorrie Bates traded in her department-issued blue cap for a cardboard party hat Wednesday.
Police and Brody Complex officials surprised the community police officer with a farewell party. Bates, who’s overseen the Brody Complex, Kellogg Center and parking lots on Kalamazoo Street for the past three years, will begin a new job Monday as MSU’s newest K-9 officer.
“I’ll miss it because it’s just a great opportunity to meeting a lot of people,” Bates said.
But now the five-year veteran of the campus police force will have to adjust to less one-on-one contact and more patrols and arrests. Bates leaves Monday to begin four weeks of training in Clare, Mich., with her new police dog. When she returns in April, Bates will be assigned to regular patrol duty throughout campus.
MSU has seven community police officers stationed in assigned areas with the goal of working with that community to prevent crime. The program began on campus in 1987.
“In the beginning it takes time for people to trust you, not just as a police officer but as a person,” Bates said.
“It’s kind of tough when you go eat in the cafeteria and get the stare, so you just have to go up and meet people.”
Community police officers like Bates are given regular patrol duties, but also meet with hall staff, help organize events and put on several programs a year.
“That’s kind of what the whole program is about,” said Sgt. Alan Haller, coordinator of MSU’s community policing program. “It’s not about driving around in your car.
“People in this area actually care she was here.”
Armstrong Hall assistant director Lisa Del Vecchio said she saw Bates around all the time.
Hall directors and community police officers often work together if an emergency situation occurs in a dorm and plan hall events together. Del Vecchio said Bates has also helped plan staff training sessions.
“We always know where to find her,” she said.
MSU police Officer Jamie Gonzales, who attended police academy and came to the department with Bates five years ago, will fill her chair in the community police office in 120 Brody Hall. Gonzales has worked on road patrol and special assignment for the department.
She said the purpose of community policing has impressed her and was something she wanted to try.
“It’s to reach out and be effective and not just be an officer someone sees once in awhile. I want to be known in this area,” she said.
Gonzales will have to hone her creative thinking skills to develop programs and work with residents to solve problems, Haller said.
“It takes a special kind of person (to be a CPO),” he said.
