Safety measures campus police take on day by day.
By: Ashley Higginbotham
-News Editor-
With criminal incidents happening on college campuses near STLCC-Meramec, some may wonder what measures Meramec police are taking to watch this campus and keep it the second safest STLCC campus (Cleary Act Report, 2010). Campus Police Chief Paul Banta said in the five years he has been at Meramec there has been one car theft and a few misdemeanors, but nothing major.
The important details for a safe campus according to Banta are advanced notification and student participation. Meramec currently has one electric car, one Segway and two police cars. Aside from these, there are video cameras in almost every parking lot.
“I think the cameras deter people,” Banta said.
Banta also said the times where seas of students flood the parking lots. They are more heavily patrolled in hopes of lowering accidents. At any given time, there can be anywhere from three to five officers patrolling the 17-acre campus. Meramec has eight full-time officers and 12-14 part-time officers who also may work for another municipality.
“I stay in contact with Kirkwood Police as well as others,” Banta said, “most of our current part-time officers work for another city.”
Occasionally, Banta and the other campus police chiefs will meet downtown with the lieutenant to discuss needed updates and current or new policies. If there is a need for a new college-wide policy, they draft the policy and send it to the college council (a lawyer) to check for any loopholes or incorrect information. If a new policy is needed on only one campus, the chief of that campus as Banta said, “notifies the lieutenant” because “it will most likely work unless it’s completely heinous.”
“Our point is to be visible to the students and faculty,” Banta said, “and to make it easy for students to get a hold of us.”
A program started three years ago to help stop incidents on campus before they happen. Behavioral intervention: a program led by five faculty members who take in reports of “suspicious behaviors” of students. Banta, Vice President of Student Affairs Linden Crawford, Manager of Access Office Linda Nissenbaum, Meramec counselor Jason Duchinsky and campus police officer Michael Beach are all members of the team. Any person on campus can report another if it seems they might want to hurt themselves or someone else. They can report anonymously at http://stlcc.edu under “Campus Police”.
If a student or faculty member finds themselves in harm’s way, there are eight emergency call boxes around campus. If the button is pressed it notifies campus police and they are sent to that location right away. Not only can students reach campus police, but campus police has ways of reaching students.
“If an incident occurs that the student body needs to be aware of,” Banta said, “we have plenty of ways to reach them.”
Meramec has an outdoor PA system that reaches the entire campus and now has locks and telephones in all classrooms. Police also have the ability to create a pop-up on all computers and laptops connected to the school’s Wi-Fi to let students know of any problems. Students can also register their cellphone number to receive text messages from campus. This not only has a safety purpose, but an inclement weather purpose as well. Banta also has ideas of adding new ways to advance notifying students.
First year student, Leanna Loudon, said that on a scale of 1-10, she feels her safety on campus is a seven because “I feel like we have a great campus.”
“I’d say a nine because I’m usually with friends when I’m not in class,” first year student Joshua Chiodini said, “and we don’t have anyone mess with us.”
Vice President of Academic Affairs Andrew Langrehr has been at Meramec for the past few years, and feels very safe on campus.
“I see police regularly doing routines throughout the day,” Langrehr said. Out of the five interviewed students, all five stated that they see an officer or a car at least once a day that they are on campus.
Banta had 36 years of experience as a police officer for the city of DePeres; 18 of those years he spent as Deputy Commander. He has long term plans to ensure safety on campus. One is to install a campus-wide alarm system. In the near future, he hopes to install four more call boxes on campus and improve the lighting around the ball fields. He recently applied for a grant to receive MDT’s (Mobile Data Terminal), which are kept in police cars and have the ability to run license plates on the spot instead of calling the office and to have a secretary search the plate. Throughout the next few years Banta’s goal is to ensure higher safety on campus.
To stay updated with weather and emergency information on campus, text: follow @STLCCalert to 40404.
