The current NIU campus safety organization does not have the expertise to properly address campus safety concerns, a Student Association adviser said Saturday.

SA Campus Welfare Adviser Curt Stein said he wants to develop a task force this year made of experts on campus safety. The experts would include representatives from the University Police, NIU Judicial Office, Sexual Assault Response Team, Residence Halls and the Physical Plant.

The current organization, the Campus Security Advisory Board, consists of student and faculty members only, Stein said.

“My problem is that they are not the subject-matter experts,” Stein said. Members of the current security could not be reached for comment.

He said he has talked with people from the different groups and they are in total support for the program.

“I want to go to (NIU President John La Tourette) and say we have discovered this problem (of a lack of expertise). This is the solution we need to see.”

Stein’s push for the task force also comes at a time when the SA will release a campus safety manual in about 10 days.

“The SA has taken the lead in safety and not the administration,” he said. “We (the SA) really want to be proactive.”

Here are some other plans Stein has for the year:

‘He said he wants to propose follow-up training for resident advisers after the initial training session. He said he thinks RAs need more training in counseling and the handling of rule infractions.

“Far too many cases have wound up in the judicial system that should have been handled by an RA,” said Stein, who was a student judicial advocate last year. “The interpersonal skills need to be improved.”

‘He plans to push for revisions in the student judicial code and to increase the number of judicial board members who can hear cases.

‘He said he wants to give students more information about RAs through releasing the results of surveys filled out by students in the residence halls.

‘Stein said he will ask to get authority to enter residence halls at any time to observe how they are run.

“I need to see for myself first hand what is going on.”