It’s been nearly 40 years since Scott Obrand served as the first community service aide supervisor at Arizona State University.

What followed was a 30-plus-year career in federal law enforcement, then working part time at the Mob Museum and officiating weddings as a bona fide Elvis Tribute Artist. But when Obrand spotted the opening for a supervisor position for the University Police Department’s (UPD) Community Service Officer program, he was ready to get back to his university roots.

“I’ve come full circle. I’m back to where I started,” he quipped with a curl of his upper lip, reminiscent of the king of rock and roll.

UPD expanded the Community Service Officer (CSO) program to UNLV this summer, after it had already shown success at the College of Southern Nevada. The department hired seven new CSOs, including Obrand, bringing the total to 14. You'll see them wearing distinct sky-blue uniforms while patrolling on foot or bicycle.

Deputy Chief Jessica Moore, who oversees the CSO program, says it provides more “eyes and ears on campus” and the CSOs will have direct communication to UPD dispatch. And, along with the student cadet program, it enhances UPD’s community-oriented policing model. 

“The CSOs and our student cadets have buy-in to our university community. They are a part of our UPD team, meaning they go through our hiring process and receive high-quality training from our team,” she said. 

Also supervised by Obrand, student cadets conduct regular patrols, provide support at special events, and respond to safety escort requests and room lockouts. Just like the CSOs, the student cadets have direct radio contact with university police dispatch.

The cadet program has been a boon in creating a pathway to hiring police officers at UPD by providing students on-the-job training while they explore a potential career as a police officer, Moore said. “We have already had several of our cadets promoted to the CSO program, and now have several training to become police officers,” Moore said, adding this pathway will help UPD build retention among employees and a pipeline to a career in law enforcement.

Student Union Substation Enhances Officer Accessibility

As the CSO team came together this summer, it became clear all they needed was a home base.

Chief Arnold Vasquez and Deputy Chief Moore worked with Student Affairs and the Student Union to set up a UPD substation in the former U.S. Bank office. “Beginning on the first day of school, our CSOs, cadets, and other personnel have worked out of that location adding to the visible presence and accessibility to police,” Vasquez said.

The substation is staffed weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and provides a convenient spot to complete property registrations, report suspicious activity, or submit a police report, the Chief said. “As the CSO program continues to grow, we will also expand other services,” he added.

From inside the substation, adorned with a giant UPD placard, Obrand said his team is ready to help where needed. “We may be able to do more, maybe it's traffic control, maybe it's taking reports, or helping with lost and found,” he said.

Keith Rogers, vice president for Student Affairs, was thrilled the CSOs would have a presence in the Student Union. On the first day of school, as students hustled throughout the Union, clamoring for food or catching up with friends, Rogers stopped into the substation to thank Moore and Obrand for setting up the space in time for the new academic year.

“You know, we’ve always had a vision for having more UPD presence in our highly frequented areas in the Union,” Rogers said. “This substation really helps us provide the immediacy of security that creates a safer environment.”

Obrand added that the substation will give the campus community more access to UPD services. “The majority of our students and community are often coming here to the Union. They're not walking to UPD headquarters across the street at the Gateway Building. Unless they’re already going to Crumble Cookie, of course,” Obrand said in jest. “But here it’s easier for them. We have a direct line to the police dispatch and we can help them file a report.”

Meanwhile, Obrand enjoys when the community stops and says hi to the CSOs. “I love helping people and the campus environment is vibrant. It kind of brings me back to those days when I was a student. I remember being in school and just wanting to get out. But once you're out, you kind of want to go back.” 

And now he is.