Talking Stick - September/October 2018 - 24

RES LIFE

On Safe Ground
Several members share models of how
they work in tandem with their police
department to make their campus safe.
by Craig Seager

Staff stand ready to take part in campus
emergency response training.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Campus safety is without a doubt a
priority at every higher education institution. With the increasing number
of shootings on or near U.S. college
and university campuses and the signing of legislation such as HB 1249,
which allows institutional leadership to
decide if their campus is a conceal and
carry environment, the development of
strong partnerships between housing
staff and university police is critical.

way is a model that could benefit many
other institutions. UCA currently employs 28 full-time sworn officers who
provide 24/7 law enforcement, public
safety, emergency management, and
911 services to the campus community.
UCA's officers are vested with full police and investigative authority and are
certified by the Arkansas Commission
on Law Enforcement Standards and
Training.

The partnership between residence
life and campus police at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Con-

UCA's Department of Housing and
Residence Life (HRL) employs 26 professional staff and 140 student staff,

KNOWLEDGE
DOMAINS
in this article

all of whom work closely with campus
police. Given the nature of some of
their primary responsibilities, such as
enforcing university policy and being
Campus Security Authorities (CSAs)
and first responders to crises, housing and residence life staff must have
strong relationships with campus police. Developing these ties begins early
on, during HRL staff training in the
summer. During this time every year
campus police and their support staff
conduct a meet-and-greet session with
all HRL leadership (graduate student
level and above), where the goals and
expectations of the partnership are outlined. The officers also facilitate several
training sessions for staff, presenting
information about search and seizure,
severe weather, emergency procedures,
and CSA training.
Emergency Management Coordinator Tyler Lachowsky works closely with
UCA's housing department to facilitate
in-depth, realistic active shooter training and response drills (conducted in
each hall with the respective staff), as
well as a four-part campus emergency
response training module that culminates in a full-blown exercise that
simulates a post-tornado scenario. During this exercise, housing staff respond
to the situation and directly apply the
knowledge and skills acquired from the
four-part training module, which covers
light search and rescue (learning how
to search lightly damaged buildings and
extricate the injured), disaster medical
situations (treating the injured when
you may not have medical supplies on
hand), fire safety and utility control
(extinguishing small fires and shutting
off gas lines), and information about
the incident command system, disaster
psychology, and terrorism.
UCA also houses a unique community policing program that involves
placing at least one live-in police officer
in each university apartment complex.
The officers reside in university housing (rent-free) and play an important

Resident Educational Services
Create environments for constituents that support community development goals.
Develop and implement programs for constituents that support educational goals.
Identify and promote living/learning programs to constituents.
Talking Stick - September/October 2018

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