Argenbright takes on security duty
Campus Times
September 24, 1999
Argenbright Security has entered in to a contract with the University
of La Verne to provide the staffing for the University's Campus Safety and
Transportation Department.
The international security company is taking over the recruiting, interviewing
and basic training of prospective ULV Campus Safety officers.
Executive Vice President Philip Hawkey, who approved and signed the
contract, said that "it provides high quality, professionally-trained
security personnel."
Director of Campus Safety and Transportation John Lentz, who initiated
the change, said, "By the time they [Argenbright's officers] come to
work here, they have already had their background done, they've already
got their guard card, they're on their way to getting their first aid [and]
CPR card, they've already had guard training, [and} they put them in uniforms."
All this preparation and training used to take up a lot of Lentz's time.
"By all this continuous recruitment what I was finding was that
I didn't have time to do a lot of other things I was supposed to do,"
said Lentz.
"This is an opportunity to do a lot of things," he said.
"[It will] provide us with a pool of people, provide us with better
trained people when they come on board, and save the University some money
at the same time."
Lentz said he did not want to overstate himself on how much is going
to be saved but that "a conservative estimate is that we'll save $10,000."
According to the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Loretta Rahmani, money
was not the primary concern.
"If it saves money, great," she said, "but all our concern
is for the quality, safety and security of our ULV community. That was the
primary focus in this."
The idea for the change began to flourish in Lentz's mind when President
Stephen Morgan encouraged administrators in a budget meeting not only to
ask for more money but also to look for better ways to get the job done.
A big advantage of the change is the constant availability of personnel.
Many times in the past when someone got sick another guard had to work longer
hours.
"I don't like my people to work 12 hours at a time, a shift and
a half," said Lentz. "Sometimes we struggle to make that happen."
With Argenbright, there will always be enough people available, even
if under special circumstances more guards than normal are required for
a short period of time.
The new contract also solves Lentz's problem of having to provide extra
guards and shuttle bus drivers for the students living at The Claremont
Inn.
Argenbright will also do security checks at ULV and make suggestions
on how to improve security on campus. The company has supervisors doing
periodic checks of the campus during the off hours when Lentz cannot.
As far as changes for the ULV community, Lentz said nothing is really
going to change.
"We'll continue to escort people, to open doors, to jump start
cars," Lentz said. "We'll continue to do the things we've always
done and maybe even expand on those things. We will not eliminate anything
that we are doing now."
Lentz said that he will be actively involved in the day-to-day operation
of the department and hopes that people are not going to notice the change.
Deciding to go ahead with the change was not an easy decision for Lentz
to make.
"I had to weigh the benefit to the organization against the downside,
which is that some of the employees may not buy into it," said Lentz.
"So I had to make what I felt was the best decision for the organization
as a whole. And that decision was to go with Argenbright."
The current security guards can work for Argenbright if they choose
to do so. An advantage of working for such a large company is the possibility
to make a career out of it and work in different places.
Lentz chose Argenbright out of several possible candidates.
"I'm very impressed with the process he went through," said
Rahmani. "He really did a thorough investigation."
As far as the cost for the services, Lentz said all the companies were
very competitive.
"The most compelling factor that caused me to go with Argenbright
was their management team," said Lentz.
Dr. Hawkey said he relied on Lentz's recommendation of Argenbright.
"They were so much more actively involved," said Lentz. They
seemed to be the most interested; they seemed to be the most supportive."
"If the management team is supportive, involved and responsive,"
said Lentz, "we're going to get a better product."