Senior Staff Writers
Community Service Officer-in-Charge David Challman rides his bicycle on the way to pick up a student for an escort. The CSO program is currently operating with approximately 15 student officers, compared to normal staffing rates of 35 to 45 officers.
Allegations of mismanagement and poor working conditions have led to an internal audit of the UCSD Community Service Officer program, with former officers claiming that understaffing and managerial issues have led to a massive increase in CSO resignations over the past year.
Two former CSOs, who agreed to speak to the Guardian only on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the allegations and cautions from the management not to speak to the media, claim that CSO Coordinator Peter Kim has made numerous ethically questionable decisions in his tenure as coordinator — including forcing employees to work beyond specified hours, forbidding divergent views, playing favorites and using university vehicles for personal transportation, including trips to the train station twice daily.
Kim, who has resided in Irvine, Calif., for about two years, commutes to work, according to the former officers.
The former CSOs, who both left because they were unable to work reasonably beside Kim, also said Kim was not running the program effectively, and that Kim himself was at least partially responsible for a large exodus of CSOs during the last academic year.
The program, which normally should have 35 to 45 staff members, is at present operating with only about 15, the second former CSO said.
Kim, a former CSO himself, has been a part of the department for eight years.
According to the first former officer, the program is presently downsizing the number of CSOs who patrol at one time, even though the current officers are already overworked.
“A lot of students were forced to work when they needed to either study or had other engagements; no one else could switch because they were busy, too,” the officer stated. “So, basically we had to work or face losing our jobs.”
The second former CSO said that he had driven Kim to Campus Point Drive — an off-campus location — on multiple occasions, and that Kim was aware that they were not performing job duties at those times.
“He would tell us to write [the trips] down as escorts,” the second former CSO said, referring to job duties that require officers to safely escort students who request the service from one place to another on campus.
The first former CSO agreed, but alleged that Kim’s use of university vehicles for personal transport stretched much farther than simply Campus Point Drive.
“[Kim] gets picked up by a CSO in the mornings and gets taken back to the [train] station in the afternoon,” the ex-officer stated in an e-mail. “All the while, the CSO is not performing [his or her] duties and [is] getting paid for it.”
The university’s Audit and Management Advisory Services performed an official audit of Kim, but the specifics of the report will be forthcoming.
As of press time, the campus Administrative Records Office declined to release the audit until a formal California Public Records Act request was filed.
According to AMAS manager Bob Mannie, two of the charges against Kim were substantiated in the audit. However, due to university policy, Mannie was unable to release any further details about the report until the audit was publicly released.
Kim declined to comment further on the nature of the charges or any specific details of the report itself, including when the investigation was conducted, but said he was innocent of the charges.
“There was an audit, but I was cleared of everything,” Kim said, contradicting Mannie.
Kim added that his supervisor allegedly told the auditing board members that they were “wasting their time” with the investigation.
UCSD Police Lt. David Rose, Kim’s supervisor, also declined to speak about the audit because it pertained to an active member of the police department.
According to Kim, officer resignations did not appear to be more frequent than in years past, and a certain number of CSOs leave the program each year when they graduate or otherwise leave the university.
“I can’t say it was the most [officers] we’ve ever lost, or the least we’ve ever lost,” Kim said. “This is a student job. The population is transient. We lose people every year no matter how much they love the job.”
The former CSOs, on the other hand, put the brunt of the blame on Kim, with the first former CSO saying that several CSOs attempted to have Kim investigated by the UCSD Police Department as early as fall quarter 2004.
“We had a petition going around to have [Kim] investigated, but unfortunately at that time he was beginning to hire people and many of the current CSOs felt that if they signed, they would get fired,” the first ex-CSO stated in an e-mail.
The second ex-CSO agreed, going so far as to directly connect Kim’s alleged mismanagement to the high turnover rate.
“Peter Kim was the reason people quit,” the ex-officer said.
Kim said that the program hires new officers once a year in fall quarter, and has approximately 50 CSOs on the staff when hiring is complete. By the end of the year, it may often fluctuate by 20 to 30 students, he said.
Alternatively, the lack of CSO applications can partially be attributed to some applicants not understanding the job, Kim said.
“We’ve had a lot apply on misconceptions,” he said, adding that applications are now only accepted after a mandatory information session.
Sixth College sophomore and CSO Officer-in-Charge David Challman agreed that understaffing is currently a problem, but also called the problem seasonal.
“We have lower staffing than we would like, but that’s typical for fall quarter,” Challman said. “I don’t schedule people for more shifts than they want. If they want one shift a week, that’s what they get.”
Challman added that, minimally, three CSOs, a dispatcher and an OIC are supposed to be on night duty, but at the moment, the program’s staffing level only allows for two on-duty CSOs.
Due to the nature of the job and the officers’ duties to monitor campus safety, both sides agree that CSO morale and the dedication of the officers pose a continual concern for the university.
“I enjoy it, and I think most people do,” Challman said. “From what I’ve heard, this group is the most cohesive in a long time.”
Despite the allegations, Kim believes the morale of the officers is high, stressing that CSOs often come to him and express their love for the job.
“Many students who graduate tell me they wish it would be available as an outside position,” Kim said. “They have the strong belief that they’re making a difference.”
However, the second CSO disagreed with Kim’s positive interpretation of the program, noting that CSOs always try to work with dedication but are hindered by unreasonable management policies.
“It’s a really good program, but it’s not benefiting the students as much as it should,” the ex-officer said.