William Kelly
Staff Writer
Jackson State University students have to be proactive in protecting themselves at all times. Do you know what to do if you are a victim or witness a crime incident on campus?
While the first reaction of most people is to call 911, JSU students should remember these four words: Dial down the middle. If an incident occurs on campus that requires assistance from the JSU Department of Public Safety(DPS), 2580 is the number to call for help. These four numbers located down the middle of the phone key pad could be key to keeping you safe.
If you are out and about and do not have access to a phone, blue emergency phones on blue poles are strategically located throughout campus to send alerts to DPS.
DaMarius Cotton, Jackson State’s Crime Prevention Officer, said that DPS has a routine procedure for keeping the JSU community safe.
“There are officers that are at fixed post positions around the campus including the booths, the Student Center and the plaza,” said Cotton. “There are officers also patrolling in patrol cars around the campus area.”
Some JSU students say the patrols and officers need to be more visible.
“I don’t feel safe all of the time, it’s very dark and I rarely see the officers. There are always too many people on the campus who aren’t students and it is frustrating to have to be escorted to my residence hall because of the danger on campus,” said Jennifer Wiles, a freshman mass communications major from New Orleans, La.
DPS is currently building new entrance booths on streets surrounding JSU in order to have better control of the traffic that enters the campus. Along with these precautions, the Jackson Police Department has partnered with the DPS to ensure more protection of students, faculty, staff and guests.
With last year’s addition of the Tiger Plaza Residence Center, DPS also wasrequired to branch out and take necessary precautions that would provide safety for off campus residential students.
“As far as Tiger Plaza, we have increased lighting, ensured that the gate around the facility would secure the facility, we have closed off the gate that led to the hotel right beside it and locked it up to make sure that all citizens entering and leaving the site has the correct credentials,” said Cotton. “We have police officers as well as security guards 24/7 that patrol the facility.”
The Palisades has also been developing a more complex security system.
“There have been discussions and talks about increasing the lights. Also, the gates leading to the streets are going to be locked and closed off so that the only way to enter the Palisades will be through the campus,” said Cotton. “This will definitely help keep a lot of people out of the Palisades who do not attend Jackson State University.”
There have been a total of 114 incident reports taken by DPS since freshmen move-in day.
“Some of those reports consist of informational reports regarding sick students, injured students, injured employees and things that might have been damaged or broken that belongs to the university,” said Cotton. “Other reports are the criminal reports such as auto-burglary and trespassing.”
Johnathan King commends DPS for their work.
“I feel safe here (JSU). I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about freshmen being targeted for their iPads but the security is really good here,” said the junior accounting major from Clarksdale, Miss.
If a person presents a danger to the campus, crime alerts are sent out to students who sign up for Everbridge System on their PAWS account.
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