Students and public safety share their perspectives on safety at Cabrini

By Megan Fee
January 22, 2020

 

There are 49 blue and yellow emergency call boxes throughout campus. Photo by Megan Fee

Many students feel that Cabrini is a safe campus due to it being smaller in size compared to other universities but that does not mean that the campus should let its guard down or fail to be prepared for any type of potential emergency situations that could occur. This is why it is important for the campus to take the steps to be prepared ahead of time and for students and officers to work together and communicate with one another for the well being of everyone on campus.

“I have a good mindset for Cabrini as far as I do think we are pretty prepared in the face of emergencies,” Joseph Fusco, director of public safety, said. “We’re constantly going ahead and trying to revamp our systems [and] we’re constantly trying to go ahead and improve.”

“We’ll always have fears for campus but I think we’ve taken great strides to become as prepared as possible,” Fusco said. “You can never be 110 percent prepared but we are going to continually try and improve in that effort.”

Kirsten Searcy, a junior criminology major, feels safe on campus for the most part but believes that lighting could be an area of improvement in certain locations at the university.

Public safety has about 35 officers to patrol the campus. Photo by Megan Fee

“I definitely think the path behind House Three and Four should be lit up like way more than it is,” Searcy said.

Kaitryn Cloud, sophomore exercise science major, also expressed that she feels safe on campus and agrees that certain areas on campus could have more street lights.

Cloud explained that there have been times when she has had to go to work and had to walk across campus in the dark. She went on to list some areas such as the parking strip by West and South, the tennis courts and the path to the gym as locations that could be better lit.

The Public Safety Twitter account can be used to stay updated and communicate with non-emergent needs. Screenshot by Megan Fee.

A big concern was that some of the blue lights were out and that the boxes were not working but those issues have since been addressed and are being worked on. There are currently seven call box lights that are too faint to be seen but facilities has ordered nine replacement bulbs which are to be installed over the next week according to Fusco.

“After this, you should not see a dimly lit blue call box on campus,” he said. “If there is, then I would advise students to go ahead and put a request into public safety or do a facilities work order because that’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Fusco expressed concerns about students not having their information up-to-date for the emergency notification system that uses text messaging and emails to alert students, faculty and staff about potentially dangerous situations on campus. He emphasized the importance of students having that information accurate in the event of a campus emergency.  

Fusco also encourages students to follow public safety on Twitter for updates to the traffic patterns or events that are happening on campus or public safety programs. 

“We really want to be approachable to the students so if they ever feel that there is an issue I’d ask them to please come talk to me because I want my staff to meet the students’ needs,” Fusco said.

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Megan Fee

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