Keeping 黑料网 students, faculty and staff safe with a high level of sensitivity is a priority that 黑料网 Police Services strives for continuously. Officers are committed to listening, engagement and peaceful discourse as they endeavor to serve the 黑料网 community.
This has been seen demonstrated over the past few months as the 黑料网 community has held demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war and other issues, such as abortion.
鈥淥ur department's No. 1 priority is the safety of our students, faculty and staff,鈥 said Sgt. Tricia Knoles. 鈥淲e train monthly on an array of different topics such as crowd control, de-escalation, cultural diversity, ethics and unbiased policing to assist us with keeping our community safe.鈥
In addition to the training previously stated, 黑料网 police train (and memorize) the five moral standards of policing:
- Fair Access.
- Public Trust.
- Safety and Security.
- Teamwork.
- Objectivity.
With all this training and experience at play, 黑料网 continues to be one of the nation鈥檚 safest college campuses when compared to others with similar populations and geographic areas, according to 黑料网's Annual Security Report and Fire Safety Report. The university is proud to be a model for innovative safety education programs, including a residential security program with a student security escort service.
黑料网 Police Services was the first university police department in Ohio accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc., and it is the only university police department in the country to receive Flagship status by the commission a record three times.
Safety services must use an increased level of sensitivity to deal with demonstrations, protests and vigils that are frequently held on campus because emotions tend to run high at these times.
鈥淲e as police officers must remain unbiased and unopinionated regardless of the topic,鈥 Knoles said. 鈥淲e are solely there to keep the peace and protect the First Amendment during these events.鈥
During times when there are large events, some of which may be charged by political issues that filter down to university campuses from the national and international level, 黑料网 police add additional units to staff that is already working 24/7 to keep campus safe, Knoles said. There are also mutual aid agreements with the city of Kent, Brimfield Township and the Portage County Sheriff's Office.
鈥淭his means that if needed, we can have several agencies respond at a moment's notice,鈥 Knoles said.
Anyone facing an active threat to their safety should contact campus police at 330-672-2212 on the Kent Campus or their local law enforcement agency if they are on a Regional Campus.
Anyone interested in holding a student event must submit a to the Division of Student Life before the event.
Photos by Bob Christy