Behind the Badge

By Alex McArthy

Today’s campus environment is radically different from those of 20 years ago. Campuses have reacted accordingly to events like Columbine and Virginia Tech, and are much more secure and closely monitored.

Saint Xavier’s Public Safety Department has shown responsiveness and a progressive process in its recent changes and policies, and I feel privileged to have played an active, leadership role as a Public Safety Superviser over the past year and a half.

Public Safety has many different roles on campus. First, there’s the Security and Police force that has various tasks around campus such as enforcing campus rules, parking, ensuring student safety and securing buildings.

Dispatch and Switchboard is another part of the department that deals with radio calls, emergency response, and transferring calls through out the university.

The shuttle service is another branch that provides rides to students around campus and the surrounding area. The Emergency Management Task Force is a newer group that provides detailed plans and procedures in various scenarios, everything from chemical attack to widespread fires.

The last area of the department is the Federal Work-study Program, which monitors the dorms and serves residents’ safety needs. The latter is where I am involved and have been able to play a rewarding part in the program.

One feature of the program is all residence halls have a 24/7 watch in the check-in office in each lobby. This allows constant control of the flow of people that come in and out to benefit student safety. Strangers, non-students, or even un-invited residents from other dorms are stopped and told to turn around. Each resident must be there and give consent to sign in a guest into the dorm. That resident is then responsible for the guest’s actions.

Another feature we have is mandatory swiping. Each Saint Xavier student has a Cougar Card that allows access to his or her dorm, and only his or her dorm, which also helps control flow of people in and out of the halls. The FWS desk workers are the ones that attend to the two policies, checking people in and out, and making sure everyone swipes.

As a Supervisor, I am there to help the Desk Workers and ensure that everything is working effectively. I also have been able to help with policy changes within the department.
Overall the Public Safety Department can be seen as a negative from students who hate swiping in every time, or got a parking ticket, but we don’t like to be the bad guys. We are here to help serve the students and ensure their safety.

Alex McArthy is a sophomore political science major from St. Louis, Missouri. He is an RHA National Communications Coordinator, president of the Cougar Crazies, a Public Safety supervisor and an SXU Student Ambassador. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.