Safety through cooperation

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Campus Police, Student Health Services and Judicial Affairs have set crime-preventing policies that help keep the campus safe and crime rates low. Extensive training throughout the university has taken place to practice preventative action.

In 2009, there were 11 counts of forcible sex offences on the BYU campus. Neighboring the Cougars, UVU cut that number  by more than half.

Although it is unfortunate that a campus has any of these problems, it is comforting to know that we rank above BYU for both forcible sex offences and burglary. With a small amount of other criminal activity on campus areas, these crime occurrences are still below that of BYU.

According to UVU Campus Police Officer Chris Rockwood, the lack of on-campus housing and the attending students prevent a lot of problems. It could also, however, be attributed to the very force he works for. The Campus Police are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station is manned on holidays, too. For students, faculty and staff, that someone qualified is always looking out for them.

According to the Campus Security Report of 2009, “[These] officers have full police powers and responsibilities as do officers in other Utah law enforcement agencies.”

Further, as a preventative measure, the campus police department has made an effort to team up with Student Health Services and Judicial Affairs to identify individuals who are a potential danger to students or professors, as well as those who may be a danger to themselves.

Campus Police, as well as Student Health Services, are trained to handle those with mental health problems. In the event a student shows particular instability that may result in dangerous behavior, the university can require that student to seek counseling before returning to classes. This attitude of looking out for students and working with these departments provides a safe university environment.

Additionally, the Campus Police trains to respond to emergency situations from gunmen to earthquakes.

In the event that something of this magnitude happened, Campus Police have added to their training a set of procedures to ensure the safety of all on campus, including captains for each building and each additional floor. Building captains have gone through training and are provided with some emergency equipment.

Campus Police also regularly update their training to respond to these threats, and test emergency equipment.

According to Officer Rockwood, since the Virginia Tech shooting incident, the procedure of waiting for a SWAT team to arrive before going in after the shooter has been removed. If a gunman were on campus, being the first department on scene, Campus Police would be responsible for neutralizing the threat and securing the campus.

Threats on the scale of a shooter are atypical, but Campus Police take precautionary steps on every level to ensure the university’s safety. The most recent crime statistics report shows that most criminal activity in 2009 went down from previous years, and the decrease could be attributed to the investment in preventative actions of the collaboration of Judicial Affairs, Student Health Services and Campus Police. So without being over-the-top: Thanks for keeping the campus safe.