written by: chloe salveson, staff writer

Student Government Association President Thomas Wehby hopes to revitalize the current Xavier Police Department and Student Government Association Resolution by Oct. 12. 

Wehby, leads a team of senators in efforts to develop the resolution and reinforce the values it embodies. 

The most focused section of the outdated resolution reads, “The focus of the program is to establish and maintain a sense of mutual trust and respect with the students that can dramatically impact campus safety, as well as deterrence and prevention of crime.”

The intentions of the resolution are vague, something Wehby aspires to resolve.  

“Essentially, it was just sort of an acknowledgement of the policing format,” he stated. “What we are trying to do differently than what it was is to not just focus on the safety and security of students, but also focus on the rights of students in the relationship with XUPD.” 

This Sunday, the XUPD Resolution Committee will convene to discuss their desired additions to the XUPD resolution and subsequently create a rough draft of the improved resolution. 

The committee plans on framing the new resolution with Chief of Police Robert Warfel in order to make substantial and necessary changes to strengthen its purpose. 

“The sentiment from the committee, that I can tell, is that it will be an overhaul of the resolution that might, in some cases, be intense but straightforward,” Wehby said.

He elaborated that the intensity is directed specifically at XUPD and student relationships in regard to the expectation of XUPD to respect the rights and identities of the students. 

One inclusion that has already been emphasized is the update of the police reporting system. 

For example, students may be able to report any issues they might have experienced with officers in order to uphold more thorough accountability.“Right now, students have said that (reporting) isn’t clear. It’s kind of hard to navigate, so that is one thing that we would like to fix,” Wehby described. 

Once the resolution is voted on and presented to the Senate, an endeavor scheduled for Oct. 12, the committee plans to disband. 

“With the conversations that I hope we’ll get started with us, Chief Warfel and the rest of SGA, that leaves the door open for another committee that might be focused directly on making sure that any changes we talk about are implemented with XUPD,” Wehby said.  

“This is the student body’s project, and I want to make sure there is equal representation on that,” Wehby said. 

If you are expressing interest in the upcoming committee meeting or have suggestions regarding the new resolution, please direct message @xusga on Instagram.