Initiatives enhance campus safety

The Department of Public Safety is hiring more police officers, starting armed foot patrols in campus areas that are inaccessible by car and enhancing such safety features as outdoor lighting.

The plans were announced in December by Scott Douglass, executive vice president, during a University forum on safety. He said UD will hire five additional police officers, increasing the number of sworn officers to 48, so that more of them can be assigned to patrols after dusk.

“We want officers out of cars in areas where it would improve safety by having police officers walking around,” Douglass said.

In addition, he said, a survey of campus lighting will determine areas that need more illumination. More blue-light emergency phones and surveillance cameras also will be installed, and entrances to some buildings will be secured with electronic locks.

Previously, UD officers’ weapons were stored in a locked compartment of their patrol cars and retrieved when needed. But, with more officers out on the campus on foot and away from their vehicles, officers have begun carrying guns.

Chief James Flatley, director of public safety, points out that all UD police are sworn officers who are trained in the Delaware State Police Academy, the New Castle County Police Academy or the Wilmington Police Academy. All are certified to handle weapons. In addition, all officers recently received training in conflict resolution as well as more firearms training.

At the campus safety forum, Douglass said the University has been working closely with the Delaware State Police and the state Department of Safety and Homeland Security on emergency preparedness, and plans are being made for a major joint exercise on campus during the summer.

In response to a question about the University’s emergency alert system, Flatley said the telephone text and e-mail messaging system has been successfully tested. He described other means through which an emergency alert would be sent out, including telephone voice messages, a message that can override the campus television network and screen projectors in more than 160 classrooms, and outdoor loudspeakers.
Flatley also offered safety tips and encouraged students who see anything unusual or a suspicious person in residence halls to call 911, preferably using a landline to ensure that the call is immediately routed to UD police.

“This is your community,” Flatley told students. “If you see something in your residence hall or your apartment complex and something is not right, pick up the phone and dial 911. Give us a call. Let us know. Provide some information. Give us a chance to respond to see what it is. It could be harmless, but you don’t know that, so let us find out.”

He also urged students to keep safety in mind, even when they are stepping away for just a few minutes.

“It takes only eight seconds to walk into an open room, pick up something and walk out, so we encourage everyone to keep the door to their room locked at all times,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to make this community a safer place, but we also need your help to make it work.”