As tight budgets and restructuring efforts continue to affect educational units around campus, the direction of the University’s Police Training Institute (PTI) has now been handed over to University Chief of Police and Executive Director of Public Safety Barbara O’Connor since the retirement of previous director Krystal Fitzpatrick earlier this month.

Fitzpatrick retired from the PTI on July 1 after serving for three years as its director. Chief O’Connor, who has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement, said there were consistent overlaps between the PTI’s work and the University’s Division of Public Safety (DPS), so it made sense that the institute could also report to her.

“When you think about it, who probably best knows about training police officers?” O’Connor said. “It makes sense in terms of the transition. There seems to be some overlap between our departments.”

One such overlap, O’Connor said, included some of the police officers in DPS who also serve as adjunct instructors at PTI.

O’Connor said the DPS and PTI have often worked closely together on campus in the past, with both equally concerned about the same safety issues in the community. She also expects some additional responsibilities to her duties now that she heads both units.

“I have the police department, I have emergency planning, now I have the PTI,” she said. “The program is a whole other department I’m supervising now.”

“Fortunately, both of those organizations have people within them to help with the transition,” O’Connor added.

After the release of the budget review report of PTI last month, questions also remain about the institute’s overall affiliation with the University and the funding it provides. The report said the $900,000 provided yearly by the University “necessarily diverts money that is meant for more essential campus priorities.”

Michael Metzler, associate director of PTI, said efforts to secure more stabilized funding for the institute began over two years ago and were expected to continue under O’Connor.

“PTI found the Project Team review process and the subsequent report an opportunity to bring to light our efforts to secure stabilized funding,” Metzler said.

“PTI’s done a great job of putting themselves in a position to make reductions,” O’Connor said. “We’ve positioned ourselves to come through the budget crises stronger, more viable than ever.”

Despite the uncertainties about the institute’s role in the educational mission of the University, O’Connor said the PTI still maintains a high quality of training.

“I think PTI has a great group of instruction. Police chiefs across the state appreciate the philosophy and training of the PTI,” she said.