When parents or students seek the “best” college or university for the money, campus safety and security should play a major role in their final decision. Why? Because new students are in a brand new higher-ed world with minimal adult supervision, and their vulnerability increases substantially until they become aware of the new dangers and temptations in their lives. Over time, even the more seasoned and experienced college students become complacent, thereby increasing their exposure to potential risks and threats. Unfortunately, some criminals specialize in campus-related crime.
Some institutions devote more resources to student safety and security than others. Simply put, when safety and security criteria are not given some priority by parents or students during the decision-making process, any tragic situation that might subsequently develop can be credited (at least partially) to a lack of adequate personal planning.
The components of an adequate and reasonable campus safety and security program are strategic planning; CEO participation; risk and threat awareness; emergency planning; community policing philosophy; professional staffing and training; background checks; professional networking; crime data processing and sharing; and adequate budgeting.
Asking the following questions will help students and their parents determine if an institution of higher education is really serious about safety and security. College administrators might also want to review these questions to determine if their campus public safety programs are adequately supported.
1. Does the prospective institution have a strategic plan? Strategic planning of some sort occurs at every college and university in the country, but do many institutions of higher education actually include the terms “safety and security” in them? Does your prospective institution have a strategic plan? Will they share it with you? Does it mention safety and security? Stay away from institutions that don’t mention these important items because they obviously don’t see your safety and security as a long term goal or objective worthy of note.
2. Does your prospective college or university have a chief executive officer (CEO) who is “into” safety and security? Because of tragic events over the last several years, safety and security has become a primary management function on the American campus. So, does the campus CEO have any homeland security training as a public official or private executive? Does he or she participate, even occasionally, in any type of campus safety workshop or program? What is the relationship between the CEO and the chief law enforcement or public safety officer in the institution? Is the public safety chief buried in the organizational structure or featured as a prominent part of the institution’s operations? Does the CEO meet with the campus community occasionally to discuss their safety and security? Or do such meetings occur only after a tragedy has occurred? Here’s an important hint: if the CEO doesn’t care about safety and security, neither does his or her staff of campus executives and officials. Their agenda likely includes many other things, and they happily leave the protective duties to others far below them in the organizational structure.
3. Has the institution conducted a comprehensive risk and threat analysis in the last five years? If not, campus safety and security efforts may be inadequate. Current standards suggest that institutions should hire a professional consultant or team every five years to review all hazards, risks and threats that may affect the institution, employees, students and visitors. Without such an assessment, the protective effort may be ineffective and inefficient. Do you want to attend an institution where the officials are guessing about potential dangers and ways to protect you? Probably not, so keep this in mind when you visit prospective campuses. College officials should be willing and able to discuss their risk and threat assessment program with you (and your parents if necessary).
4. Does this institution engage in emergency planning? If so, at what level? Who is in charge of emergency planning on this campus? Is the planning adequate in scope? Is it done by trained professionals? Does it meet current standards? Are the plans tested on a regular basis? Are plans evaluated on a regular basis? Is this campus “networked” with local first responders? Does this institution have a budget for emergency planning? Does it have a crisis communication system that can reach students and employees during an emergency? If most of the answers to these questions are “no”, you may want to look elsewhere for a safer environment.
5. Do the police or public safety personnel on campus engage in “community policing”? Is the public safety or police force professional enough to know the difference between “traditional policing” and “community policing”? Is the department proactive or reactive? Is the department adequately staffed and funded? Is it culturally diverse? Does the department have adequate money to conduct necessary staff training? Does it conduct educational workshops? Does the campus police force reach out continually to the students, faculty, staff, administrators and visitors? Is there a crisis intervention team in place to identify and support students suffering emotional emergency needs? Is the security force strongly and openly supported by the college or university CEO and his or her staff? Is the department networked and respected by other local public safety agencies? If the answer to most of these questions is “no”, consider another option for your own safety.
6. Are the public safety and/or campus police personnel professionals? Do they subscribe to a code of ethics and/or a code of professional conduct? Do they meet state standards in terms of hiring qualifications and training? Are the public safety officials certified and trained? Do they understand the importance of partnerships with all of the constituents within the campus community? What is the turn-over rate of the campus safety force? Is it better or worse than other agencies in the area? What about the pay and benefit package? Is it adequate? Are the housing officials professional? How is the staff in the dorms and other support services selected? Is the screening adequate? Once again, too many “no” answers in response to these questions make the state of campus safety and security at this institution very suspect. You may be better served moving on to another potential selection.
7. Is every staff member background-checked? In this day and age, everybody should be background-checked prior to employment. This includes new CEOs, administrators, faculty, staff, deans, cooks, vendors, police, part-time workers, contractors and student workers. If there are exceptions, th
e program is a sham and a waste of money. One exception “gone bad” can bring tragedy to many people and ruin the reputation of the institution for a long period of time. Is the risk worth it? If the officials at your campus say “yes,” and make exceptions, your safety may be at risk. Look somewhere else, because many good colleges and universities clearly understand the new obligations in this regard and make everybody undergo a background check.
8. Is the college or university connected to professional safety and security organizations? If the institution truly cares about your safety, it will be involved with local police associations, state campus safety associations, regional security groups and national campus protection associations. Is your prospective campus so involved? Does the institution belong to the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)? If not, why not? Networking brings knowledge to the campus, and is vitally important to the health and quality of a campus protection program. Find out how “networked” the campus protection department actually is, and then make a determination if you feel it is adequate for your personal safety. If not, look elsewhere.
9. How does the college or university acknowledge the crime that occurs on or near campus? Does it report its crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Federal Bureau of Investigation? Does the institution in question publish an annual report showing the extent of crime on campus and in surrounding areas? Is this report made readily available to prospective and current students? How does the data for this campus compare with other similar institutions? Who is in charge of handling the crime data on this campus? Does the institution care about the safety and security of students residing off campus? How is that concern manifested? Are there active crime prevention and/or personal safety programs on campus? If an institution is very secretive about its crime data, something is seriously wrong. Secrecy in this regard would be a good reason to look elsewhere.
10. Is the campus security force adequately funded? How much money is spent on protecting this campus each year? What percentage of the total institutional budget is spent on campus safety and security? (The national norm is about 2.5 – 3 percent.) Are there adequate funds for personnel? Training? Uniforms? Weapons? Equipment? Vehicles? Office space? Software? Do college or university officials consider safety and security just “another line item in the budget,” or do they make it more of a priority? Historically, what do the local newspapers (including the campus newspaper) say about safety and security funding on this campus? Inadequate funding leads to ineffective and inefficient protective services. Does this institution show pride in its protective service program, or is the program just a “sham” to help entice you and others to buy their products and services? If you determine that the funding is inadequate, go somewhere else where safety and security is a real priority.
These 10 recommendations are aimed at parents and students trying to select the “best” institution in regards to personal safety and security issues. While no campus will ever be perfectly safe, some institutions give safety and security matters more priority than others. If your personal safety is important, you may want to select one of the safer campuses to live, work and study. Now, more than ever, selecting the “right” campus is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make.
James T. McBride, C.L.E.E., was the director of public safety and chief of police at a Lakeland Community College for the past 25 years. He has authored a number of articles on campus safety, emergency planning and homeland security, and was an active member of IACLEA over the last two decades. Now retired, he can be reached at: [email protected]