Following troubled relationship with Allied Barton, Ripon College switches to Per Mar Security

January 2010 marks more than just a new decade, but also the ushering in of a new era of security at Ripon College. Per Mar, a second generation family owned security company took over the reins of security here at Ripon College, Jan. 18. This followed an eight year partnership with Allied Barton, a relationship that became increasingly more challenging over the past few years. "Efforts to refine the existing service over the last year met with mixed results, finally we were left with no other alternatives than to change service," says Physical Plant Director Brian Skamra.

The decision was made last semester to make the change, however, due to contractual reasons the college waited for second semester to make the change. The 2009 fall semester was filled with numerous hiring and firing of security personnel. Of those employees, one will remain at the college and transfer to Per Mar.

The security under Allied Barton, whose role is to insure the safety of students as well as the property of the college has had two instances which strengthened the college's desire to move forward in a new direction. The most recent case came during the wee hours of Tuesday, Sept. 29, when a handful of rocks shattered the window of a Scott Hall residence room.

Skamra was alerted by the Director of Scott Hall Ryan Dwyer of the situation and promptly came to the campus. When he arrived, police officers were already there but campus security was nowhere to be found. "I was unable to locate them and they never did come to the crime scene," says Skamra.

A few months earlier, Skamra tested out the Allied Barton security force himself and the end result was anything but encouraging. "I came in at night to check on guards, shadowed them, and tried to attract attention by simulated forced entry and evasion with no response," says Skamra.

Accompanying the transition are high hopes and expectations from both parties involved. Per Mar hopes to utilize the reputation that can be built through a successful security system as a model to attract potential future clients around the Fox Valley area. Skamra and the rest of the college administration look forward to having a more professional presence.

"[Per Mar] brings a strong security background and professional attitude to our campus. They will continually work to insure a security presence is established on campus and consistently monitor and refine their duties to best service the needs of the staff and students of Ripon College.

Currently, Per Mar plans on employing four security guards. However, the number is not what matters to Per Mar security force manager Jim Waack.

"My primary goal isn't necessarily to keep x number of people there. My primary goal is to make sure that the people we have there whether it is three, four, five or however many know the campus, know their requirements, know how to interact with the students and know what to do if something happens," says Waack.

Even though the size of Ripon College is much smaller than many of Per Mar's other operations which include providing security in Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay as well as at Lambeau Field, Waack believes there are similiarities to how it functions and the main objective remains the same.

While Per Mar's ultimate goal is to provide a safe campus and to abide by rules and laws that are laid down, they are faced with the difficulty of not becoming a nuisance to the students that they protect.

"One of the biggest challenges that you always have when you are dealing with a campus environment is getting involvement from people who live there or exist there," says Waack. "A lot of times you look at security like the nuisance that interrupted you or your fun. The biggest objective that we have is to make sure the students are aware that we are present there."

Outside of being in charge of making rounds through the campus and being there if a situation arises, security provides an escort system if for some reason you don't feel safe walking back to you're room. There is a red phone station down near Storzer that would connect the student directly to security and you can request a ride from there.

"Change is not always easy, it is not always attainable by working harder the same way, sometimes you need to change what your doing to achieve your goals, hence the change from Allied Barton to Per Mar Security," says Skamra.