Students Note Security Increase

There has been a noticed increase in the presence of Campus Safety officers in public places since the summer of 2015. Starting this school year, officers have followed new “direct and patrol” procedures to prevent future thefts and possible hazards.Director of Campus Safety Paul Gravel aimed to create a more active and aware security on campus. “We’ve taken more of a hands on approach. Instead of just being reactive, we want to be proactive,” he said.Campus Safety’s new “direct and patrol” system was put through a trial run during the summer session. Campus Safety officers patrolled daily on the Academy’s campus with the main objective of keeping all students, faculty and staff safe. Directing officers to high security areas more effectively prevented any potential dangers. During this five week trial, more officers were put in places that were frequented by students, especially in dining hall and other heavily trafficked areas.“People who shouldn’t have been there were there,” said Head Campus Safety Officer Andrew Pixley.

“We’ve been lucky in the past few months with our patrols and our being more vigilant and visible on campus—our thefts are down.”

After the trial period, with guidance from deans and administration, the “direct and patrol” system was put into place during the 2015-16 school year and will continue indefinitely. There have been no official changes to policies regarding Campus Safety officers. “I’ve updated all of our general orders that are related to what we do everyday. Standard operating procedures are updated annually,” Gravel said.Cooperation and organization were major factors in Campus Safety’s job. Since access to public buildings on campus is the primary concern regarding outside strangers, the cameras set up around campus help officers identify any dangers around locations such as the library and the dining halls. “We had a couple of incidents at Love Gym. That was an outside person and we worked with the police and we ended up making an arrest on it. The identification was made on one of the exterior cameras,” Gravel said.Campus Safety is additionally interacting with students to prevent issues. Officers in the dining hall assist students and remind them to move backpacks to avoid fire hazards. The main concern with fire hazards is organization of backpacks, but large items such as crutches are moved to the side of the rooms. In order to prevent students from repeatedly misplacing their belongings, they patrol by the backpacks to notify students when they are creating a potential obstacle in the unlikely case of a fire.Although students have noticed more officers patrolling around the campus, there has not been an increase in the number of officers. “We have hired one officer to replace an officer who left our team. However, we have not added any additional officers to our daily patrols on any of our shifts,” Gravel said.Many students have become aware of the officers. “I see them more than I did last year. I guess I don’t really notice [the officers] except when they tell me to move my crutches [in Wetherell,]” lower Mila DeGuere said.Upper Jaden Wood has noticed officers at the dining halls but said that she has not interacted with them personally. She has mostly seen them assisting students with arranging backpacks. “One time, an officer was moving a cello case. I know they didn’t mean to, but it accidentally fell on me, which kind of contradicts their goal to create a safe place,” she said.Students are encouraged to take responsibility of storing their own belongings in the designated places in the dining halls to prevent chaos with misplaced and rearranged items.History instructor Michael Golay noticed more security on campus and supported the efforts made by Campus Safety. “I think that having more security is a good thing—they’re unarmed, but they are still aware of their surroundings. The main priority is keeping everyone safe,” he said.Gravel hopes to continue Campus Safety’s progress in increasing conversation with students. “Most of the interaction we have with students is around lockouts, which is great, because we get to help. We provide a service. We’ve been lucky in the past few months with our patrols and our being more vigilant and visible on campus—our thefts are down,” he said.As Campus Safety stationed officers in high risk locations, the likelihood of an intruder stealing decreased. Having noticed these positive results, Gravel plans to continue administering patrols. “We’re trying to be more visible—spend more time out of the cars. We do regular patrols by the library, the health center,” Gravel said.However, even with the help of the officers, Gravel adds that the students themselves ought to be aware and alert on campus. “By being more approachable, we hope that students will report anything that doesn’t look right and investigate before it becomes an issue. We want to be interactive with the students, faculty and staff. Safety is everyone’s job.”