BECKY ZIMMER
News Writer

The total number of safety staff on campus in the past 26 years has been reduced in favour of technological security, according to director of Campus Safety Robert Ferguson.

Inspector Harold Shiffman explained that while the area Campus Safety has to cover has been increasing, the number of officers that work in one evening has stayed the same.

Over the past five years, the number of service calls has remained steady, ranging from 9,000 to 10,000 calls per year.

These calls range from incidences of thefts to lock outs to disturbances and harassments.

Shiffman is confident in the quality of campus security and the university’s attention to student safety.

“The university is aware of our work, the incidents we handle, and staffs us accordingly,” he said.

Campus safety normally has six trained officers on duty on any given night: one working the dispatch while the other five patrol campus.

In a worst case scenario, like when officers are sick or vacation time is being used, the number of officers on duty can go as low as three.

If this worst case scenario comes to fruition, city officers are called in to pick up the slack.

During patrol, each building is patrolled at least once, while high traffic areas are patrolled more frequently. According to Shiffman, high traffic areas include the main core buildings “that tend to have people working throughout all hours of the night.” Arts, Geology and Thorvaldson are on that list.

The several hundred closed circuit cameras that the university has installed are motion censored, which cuts down on time watching an empty building but still draws the dispatch’s attention to problem areas.

Besides the cameras, patrol cars and bikes help patrol the large campus area. In the summer, bikes allow better access to more enclosed areas.
“Prevention is the number one priority of Campus Safety,” said Ferguson.

“This is why the Department of Campus Safety has invested resources into programs such as the new Watchdog program, distribution of Safety Cards, and the creation of a full-time crime prevention community liaison sergeants position.”

However, he noted that without the input of the university community, the effectiveness of the system cannot be measured and improved.
“We need the community to assist us,” said Ferguson.

Campus Safety has posted a poll on their website to better understand how crime is perceived on campus.