Am i safe? Campus security at cal U
By Diamoni Jones
Keeping students 100 percent protected at all times is incredibly complex and tragically imperfect. As university leaders continue to look for ways to improve campus security, it is important they understand the primary responsibility of every campus authority is the students. Students' safety should be the top priority when it comes to every college campus. However, the more serious question is, is it really?
At California University of Pennsylvania, campus safety is stressed as one of the top concerns, as is academics. Public safety and housing officials, and many other staff take part in ensuring the safety of every student who walks the campus grounds, whether the student lives in the residence halls, in town or at home and commutes.
Surveillance cameras within the residence halls and in other buildings on campus are used as a second pair of eyes when no one else is looking. However, the cameras, of course, do not do much to protect students who may be in immediate danger. But if a person were to do something that violated school policy or someone’s rights, the person would definitely be hesitant if a camera were watching.
Community assistants live alongside the students in the residence halls and do regular rounds to check the building for issues and make sure that things remain safe for the students. If they find something they deem unsafe or harmful, they immediately report to the resident director.
The CAs check for fire hazards. They also do regular room inspections, looking for things in the rooms that could potentially cause problems. Alongside the CAs are the DAs, who also are known as the door assistants. The DAs are work-study students who act as a second pair of eyes and sit at the front desk of the buildings, watching who is going in and going out. They are supposed to check for IDs and make sure nonresidents, for safety purposes, are signed in and accounted for within the buildings. Each DA desk is equipped with a panic button in case an emergency happens and for whatever reason the DA cannot get to a phone and call Public Safety. However, what some people fail to realize about the DAs is that they are not there to be security guards. They play a limited role when it comes to security. They are nothing more than a second pair of eyes in the event something happens.
One of the most important sources of campus safety at Cal U is the university police department that is available 24/7. Public Safety teams do rounds across the university. Public Safety is each student’s immediate source of help when needed. A student would not have to call 911 and sit around, waiting for the borough or county police to show up. Public Safety is always available and the officers' response time to emergencies is pretty spectacular.
Getting in contact with Public Safety is no hassle, even for students without a phone. Emergency call boxes are posted around campus and have the sole purpose of getting in contact with Public Safety. A student would not even need to say anything into the call boxes because Public Safety officers immediately would be on their way to whatever call box they had received a call from.
For most every type of emergency situation, Cal U has an Emergency Action Plan, also known as an “EAP," and the best people to talk to about that would be the Environmental Health & Safety team. They could give you plans for any kind of emergency you could possibly think of, from fires and floods to bomb threats and terrorists attacks. These Emergency Action Plans are frequently reviewed and updated because every emergency is different. Responders are going to act differently for a fire or a bomb threat than if an active shooter were on campus. For example, if there were an active shooter on campus, the school would most likely go into “Lock Down.” During “Lock Down,” most buildings -- for example, the residence halls -- would require a key to open the main door. Classrooms also would be kept locked.
One might conclude that the most important factor when it comes to students' safety are the students themselves.
“The university provides everything that it can to ensure safety, but if the students do not use their resources to their advantage, they are risking their own safety," according to Housing Director Daniel Pretz.
It would not matter if there were locked wing doors if a student took a trash can lid and propped a door open. In a sense, the school sets the stage, but the students have to be active participants because in reality, no place is ever going to be 100 percent safe. Nevertheless, Cal U prides itself in creating an environment that is potentially safer than a student's home. While on campus, students should feel assured there are reasonable precautions in place to insure that everyone is as safe as possible.
See Diamoni Jones' blog at jon2628.wordpress.com
Keeping students 100 percent protected at all times is incredibly complex and tragically imperfect. As university leaders continue to look for ways to improve campus security, it is important they understand the primary responsibility of every campus authority is the students. Students' safety should be the top priority when it comes to every college campus. However, the more serious question is, is it really?
At California University of Pennsylvania, campus safety is stressed as one of the top concerns, as is academics. Public safety and housing officials, and many other staff take part in ensuring the safety of every student who walks the campus grounds, whether the student lives in the residence halls, in town or at home and commutes.
Surveillance cameras within the residence halls and in other buildings on campus are used as a second pair of eyes when no one else is looking. However, the cameras, of course, do not do much to protect students who may be in immediate danger. But if a person were to do something that violated school policy or someone’s rights, the person would definitely be hesitant if a camera were watching.
Community assistants live alongside the students in the residence halls and do regular rounds to check the building for issues and make sure that things remain safe for the students. If they find something they deem unsafe or harmful, they immediately report to the resident director.
The CAs check for fire hazards. They also do regular room inspections, looking for things in the rooms that could potentially cause problems. Alongside the CAs are the DAs, who also are known as the door assistants. The DAs are work-study students who act as a second pair of eyes and sit at the front desk of the buildings, watching who is going in and going out. They are supposed to check for IDs and make sure nonresidents, for safety purposes, are signed in and accounted for within the buildings. Each DA desk is equipped with a panic button in case an emergency happens and for whatever reason the DA cannot get to a phone and call Public Safety. However, what some people fail to realize about the DAs is that they are not there to be security guards. They play a limited role when it comes to security. They are nothing more than a second pair of eyes in the event something happens.
One of the most important sources of campus safety at Cal U is the university police department that is available 24/7. Public Safety teams do rounds across the university. Public Safety is each student’s immediate source of help when needed. A student would not have to call 911 and sit around, waiting for the borough or county police to show up. Public Safety is always available and the officers' response time to emergencies is pretty spectacular.
Getting in contact with Public Safety is no hassle, even for students without a phone. Emergency call boxes are posted around campus and have the sole purpose of getting in contact with Public Safety. A student would not even need to say anything into the call boxes because Public Safety officers immediately would be on their way to whatever call box they had received a call from.
For most every type of emergency situation, Cal U has an Emergency Action Plan, also known as an “EAP," and the best people to talk to about that would be the Environmental Health & Safety team. They could give you plans for any kind of emergency you could possibly think of, from fires and floods to bomb threats and terrorists attacks. These Emergency Action Plans are frequently reviewed and updated because every emergency is different. Responders are going to act differently for a fire or a bomb threat than if an active shooter were on campus. For example, if there were an active shooter on campus, the school would most likely go into “Lock Down.” During “Lock Down,” most buildings -- for example, the residence halls -- would require a key to open the main door. Classrooms also would be kept locked.
One might conclude that the most important factor when it comes to students' safety are the students themselves.
“The university provides everything that it can to ensure safety, but if the students do not use their resources to their advantage, they are risking their own safety," according to Housing Director Daniel Pretz.
It would not matter if there were locked wing doors if a student took a trash can lid and propped a door open. In a sense, the school sets the stage, but the students have to be active participants because in reality, no place is ever going to be 100 percent safe. Nevertheless, Cal U prides itself in creating an environment that is potentially safer than a student's home. While on campus, students should feel assured there are reasonable precautions in place to insure that everyone is as safe as possible.
See Diamoni Jones' blog at jon2628.wordpress.com