Chief Banta talks about his journey to Meramec
Jared Powell
-Staff Writer-
Chief of Police Paul Banta works at his desk, his posture suggesting a genuine self-possession that most professional men merely purport. He’s dressed in khakis and a polo, and he blares classic rock music as he works. He concentrates on his work but with a moderate sense of repose. Across from his desk in a discreet corner hangs a certificate, indicating his title as chief of campus police.
He is an imposing figure; stocky and tall, but with a quiet confidence that, without his cordial demeanor, could make him seem intimidating.
Banta speaks about his work matter-of-factly, comfortable in a career he seems born to do, even if it started with a figurative throw of the dice.
Banta started his decades-long career in law enforcement during an irresolute conversation with a career counselor, regarding a prospective program of study.
“I hadn’t planned to go to college and didn’t really have a career choice at this point in time. The career counselor said, ‘What do you want to major in?’ And I didn’t even understand what a major meant, you know—I was a high school kid and I didn’t really plan on doing any of that college education. I figured I’d probably end up being a brick layer or something like that,” Banta said.
“I was like, ‘What do you got?’ So she went down the list and got to law enforcement, and I said, ‘You know, that sounds interesting, I think I’ll do that.’”
Banta ended up taking courses at STLCC-Forest Park, and soon after was offered a job at the local police department.
“I ended up going over there before I got my 2-year degree. Never did get my 2-year degree,” Banta said. He went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Park University.
Before working at STLCC-Meramec, Banta was a policeman for Des Peres Police Department for 36 years.
“I became a juvenile officer. That assignment was in their detective bureau, and then I moved from juvenile officer to investigator,” Banta said. “After a few years as an investigator, I got promoted to detective.”
Around the time Banta became a detective he also received a promotion to deputy commander.
“My duties were to run homicide investigations all over the area. I did that for 26 years, as well as being deputy lieutenant of Des Peres at the same time. That’s pretty much where I got my experience from,” Banta said.
Banta says he came to work for Meramec because it was a change of pace.
“I was pushing 60 years old–I guess at the time I was 56 years old. I just thought it was time to start slowing down a bit. I was looking for a job that would meet my needs, but with a different type of challenge,” he said.
Among the differences between being an investigator and chief of campus police is the day-to-day focus, including emergency preparedness and active shooter training.
“Right now we’re getting our emergency management straightened out with our notification systems and being prepared for a myriad of emergencies that might take place on a college campus,” Banta said. “We’ve got a brand new notification system, which is an exterior PA that just went into service. We’ve got a pop-up system that we’ve put together for the computer system. We’ve got e-mail delivery that delivers emergency situations to everyone on campus. That’s what we’ve primarily been doing.”
Banta said that it is a very different job description than his former job.
“Here we’re proactive; trying to prevent crime. In my other job, after the crimes were committed I tried to figure out who did them. Here, we’re trying to create a safe environment for the students,” Banta said. “We’re very service-oriented here.”
Banta says that most day-to-day issues involve things like keys being locked in cars, dead car batteries and turning things into lost and found.
Though the atmosphere at Meramec is calmer, there are still crimes that have to be dealt with.
“Occasionally people get things stolen, so we do reports and follow up on those. We have domestic disputes on campus,” Banta said. “Often we have to escort people to cars if they’re concerned about the spouse or whoever’s been harassing them or giving them problems in the parking lot. Pretty much the regular stuff that any police department would do, it’s just confined to the 17 acres of this campus.”
Banta says that patrolling a college campus can be compared to patrolling a town.
“Quite frankly, if you look at it like that, you’ve got over 10,000 people here on this 17 acre campus, which is a pretty densely populated community,” he said. “It’s almost like a small city within a city. So we have all the problems that any other city would have.”
