UAF police need to spend less time responding to off-campus calls, according to a report dated Feb. 27, 2004. A public safety subcommittee of the larger UA Ad Hoc Committee on Accountability and Sustainability reporting to UA President Mark Hamilton suggested that police reduce off-campus activities that are paid for solely by the university.

"Whether directly called upon for assistance or self-initiated, time spent off-campus needs to be restricted," the report says. "When an officer leaves the campus to assist, the campus itself is not being policed to the extent that the university is funding."

Local police agencies often request the help of UAF officers while on a call or when they are too busy to respond themselves. The university does not receive financial compensation for this, or for the necessary write-ups and court appearances. Sometimes requests are denied said UAF Police Chief Terry Vrabec, who served on the public safety subcommittee.

Officers from other agencies are obligated to cover if a crime is committed on campus, and according to Vrabec this unspoken agreement has worked so far. He referred to an on-campus domestic disturbance in which two Fairbanks Police officers spent a couple hours making an arrest while the K9 unit was busy downtown. Officer Kurt Lockwood and Briko work the regular patrol shift at the university.

"Did I spend resources down there? Yes, but my thing did not go unanswered," Vrabec said. UAF is asking for things from outside agencies as well, he said.

"When we had the governor here, I brought the bomb dogs from the military base on. I may ask for City's dog if mine's not on, or a Trooper dog." Troopers are assisting back on campus "probably almost every day," Vrabec said. "It's not uncommon to see Troopers on campus here on a regular basis."

According to public police records, the Alaska State Troopers requested the use of Briko's trained nose five times the first week of April, but Trooper Lt. Lee Farmer said that Troopers are not on campus regularly.

"I don't know that we spend a lot of time up there," he said. "We have a wonderful working relationship with them," he added later in appreciation of the help. Farmer said that having five requests for Briko in a week did not surprise him because of a rise in methamphetamine use and transportation of the spring marijuana harvest.

"It may be the campus police possess the specialized training and knowledge needed by outside agencies," says the efficiency report, "but the lack of this [training] in those agencies themselves does not require UA to provide these services."

Vrabec hopes to be able to purchase a logging system that will, among other things, tell him exactly how many hours his officers spend off-campus. The cost for that equipment and software is at least $40,000, and could be as much as $100,000.

The initial purchase of Briko was around $4,000 and Chief Vrabec is thankful that the Troopers lessened the startup costs because they "went shopping" for the dog and helped in the ongoing training process. Lt. Farmer said the Alaska State Troopers do not have their own dog for detecting narcotics. By sharing Briko and other officers, said Vrabec, UAF still benefits from the expertise of those outside agencies.

"We're incredibly lucky to have that liaison," he said of the relationship with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Metro drug unit. "There's some hidden savings sometimes when we do those [off-campus] things that gets us a good relationship with an agency that maybe they owe me a favor now."

The DEA and the Metro Drug unit are currently investigating what Vrabec described as serious drug issues on the Fairbanks campus.

That's why Vrabec sees it as more of a reciprocal relationship. He feels lucky that the agencies work so well together. Being fiscally responsible is important, he said, and the department is continually evaluating the number of requests they respond to. Despite the report, Vrabec said the department would not be denying outside requests any more than they already do.

"I'm not seeing that as a place to save money because we're not doing it to the point that it's costing us money more than it should be."

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