$856K committed to campus safety enhancements at GCSU

By Gil Pound

W ell before the recent rash of active threat hoaxes at multiple colleges across the state, Georgia College & State University made a significant investment towards enhancing safety on campus.

More than $856,000 was committed to safety improvements over three years, including nearly doubling security cameras from 550 to 900.

An Investment in Safety

Of the money spent on safety upgrades, approximately half of the funds are being used to upgrade or add security cameras around campus.

"The cameras act as a force multiplier and allow our officers to cover more places than they can on patrol," GCSU Police Chief Wes Hardin said. "We can have our radio operators monitor areas where we have a high volume of calls."

In addition to live surveillance, the increased camera coverage also gives Georgia College Public Safety another tool to aid in investigations.

Existing blue light call boxes were also targeted with the campus safety funding. All 68 tower-shaped boxes spread throughout campus have been upgraded, repaired or replaced. Should a student, faculty or staff member find themselves under duress, they need only press the red button on the closest call box. That activates a flashing blue light and connects the person directly to Georgia College Public Safety's emergency dispatch line. Safety personnel can see which tower has been activated and send officers to that location immediately.

Building access control panels have also been added or improved with the campus safety funds.

The implementation of a new Genetec security platform ties all the enhancements together.

"This system integrates our cameras, access control systems, emergency call boxes, panic buttons and intrusion alarms into one centralized monitoring location at the Department of Public Safety," said Eric Griffeth, GCSU physical security systems administrator. "These upgrades are ensuring we're using the most advanced technology available to keep our campus community safe."

Georgia College Public Safety also added a new piece of equipment in recent months. A Polaris Ranger all-terrain vehicle - nicknamed "The Beast" by Chief Hardin and his staff - was secured through a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council grant and additional funding from the GCSU Foundation. The ATV gives campus police another driveable option if there are emergencies in more remote areas, such as East Campus or the walking trails at Andalusia.

Tips for The Chief

While the security measures and new equipment help, there are steps individuals can take to keep themselves and their belongings safe. Hardin urges students to not leave their dorm room doors propped open and unattended, as that is the most common scenario when on-campus thefts occur.

People should also park their cars in well-lit, visible areas with nearby camera coverage when possible. Car doors should be locked, and valuable items need to be removed from the vehicle or placed inside the trunk, out of plain sight.

"A lot of incidents we have where something is taken from somebody's car, the car is not broken into," said Hardin. "People walk through the parking lot until they find a car that is unlocked and simply open the door."

Georgia College campus community members also have access to the Rave Guardian app on their smartphones. The app allows users to set their destination and the expected travel time. If the destination is not reached before the timer goes off, Public Safety can be automatically notified.

Other tools include the GC Alert system, which is a free service that informs the campus community of severe weather, campus emergencies and closings. Emergency management can reach students, faculty and staff directly through text message, email and a text-to-speech call on their phones. GCSU Public Safety also has both emergency (478-445-4400) and non-emergency (478-445-4054) phone numbers.

A Close Eye on Recent Events

Chief Hardin and his fully staffed department were paying close attention when other college campuses in Georgia and across the nation were under active threat alerts in the past several weeks.

"We've kept a very close eye on what's been going on," Hardin said.

All recent instances turned out to be hoaxes and no similar swatting calls came in to Georgia College. Even still, such scenarios are not taken lightly. Hardin stressed that all 26 University System of Georgia institutions collaborate to the benefit of each campus and the system as a whole.

"Every time somebody receives one of these hoax calls we immediately share that intel with each other," he said. "We work in tandem with our USG partners to determine what's relevant, what's not relevant, what's similar and what's not similar."

Header Images: Recent campus safety upgrades include upgrade blue light call boxes, "The Beast" emergency ATV and new security cameras. (Photos by Anna Gay Leavitt.)