Daily Lobo: What are your responsibilities at UNM?
KG: I think the predominant responsibility is to ensure a safe and secure environment so that learning can take place. That's really what we do.
DL: How does that affect students?
KG: For the most part, I think security should be seamless. I don't think people should have to see a cop on every corner or a security person on every corner. I think it's how we bring all our security systems together and our security people together. We want high visibility, and we want you to know we're here. But on the other hand, we want it to be safe enough that you don't worry about it.
DL: What do you like about your job?
KG: I've always worked on a campus. I've been working on a campus 32 years now as a police officer. I think the environment is stimulating. I think it forces police to stay up on the law. I think UNM has really good people.
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DL: What is the hardest part of your job?
KG: No matter what we do, police or security can't be successful without people helping us - the students, the staff, the faculty. We need help from everybody to do our job and to do it effectively. We're always kind of in the education business. We're going to educate a new group of freshmen about U-locks on bicycles because they're going to come in and put a chain on it, and somebody's going to cut it really easily. So we're always in the education business, and sometimes year after year, that can be kind of frustrating.
DL: What would you like to see changed at UNM?
KG: Actually, we're in the process of doing a lot of that. We're in the process of consolidating a lot of services. One of the things we're doing is consolidating police and security services, so we don't have people operating independently of each other. We're really trying to consolidate that and make it more effective so that people can see that and feel more secure. Really, if you look at our crime stats versus virtually anywhere else in the city, we're the lowest. It doesn't mean we don't have crime, but we try to be effective when we do have it.
DL: Do you have any advice for students?
KG: The biggest thing is for students who are new to the campus. It's a big campus. UNM is a city of about 40,000 people on any given day. One of the things we don't want is for students to be victimized, especially new students - people who will go in and leave a residence or room door unlocked. We want to keep everybody as safe as possible, but we really need their help for us to do that.
-Caleb Fort
