Officers guarding roofs is flawed

Since last month's suicide, NYU Public Safety officers have been guarding many of the exits to roofs at residence halls and high-traffic buildings like the Silver Center and Meyer Hall to prevent copycat suicides. NYU made this decision after consulting with suicide experts.

We applaud the university in taking steps to prevent student suicides, but unfortunately the execution of the policy in its current form seems to be flawed. The creation of roof guard duty has created an added demand for public safety officers, but NYU does not have enough officers to properly staff its new program without putting undue strain on available officers. This results in guards frequently working overtime in shifts lasting over 16 hours. According to the collective bargaining agreement reached between the guards' union, Local 1 Security Officers Union, and NYU, no shift can exceed 16 straight hours.

NYU's vice president of public safety, Jules Martin, assured WSN that his department does not require that guards work longer than the agreed time limit while Michael Pidoto, the president of the guards' union, said he has not received any formal complaints of shifts longer than 16 hours. However, many guards who spoke to WSN anonymously said that they were not relieved on time during roof duty and were forced to work as long as 18 straight hours with less than eight hours until their next shift. While the need to prevent suicides is strong, 18-hour shifts for security guards are not the solution.

NYU has eased the burden on the permanent security force somewhat by hiring contracted guards for some university buildings, freeing up public safety officers to work the roof shifts in the dorms. A temporary expansion of the hiring of contract guards until a more permanent solution is in place would help ease the burden on the university's public safety officers.

According to some guards, NYU is on its way to implementing a more lasting solution to preventing roof access. The university is currently installing magnetic doors that will stay locked at all times. The current doors must remain unlocked at all times to comply with fire safety laws. The new doors sound promising since they will eliminate the necessity of long, overtime shifts for Public Safety officers while also unlocking in the event of an emergency. But we have worries about their effectiveness in preventing student suicides. Before NYU implements them, the university should make sure that the new doors are foolproof.

Note: Editor-in-chief Alvin Chang, who wrote the article this editorial is based on, is a nonvoting member of the editorial board. He did not participate in the creation of this editorial.