With the annual Clery Report for CSU Stanislaus being released, students can access many different statistics related to crime and safety on campus.
Safety is a topic that may not always be represented accurately in a numerical format. That is where the opinions of students both past and present provide another glimpse into campus safety.
In order to put forth maximum effort to allow everyone to feel safe, safety at CSU Stanislaus is overseen by the University Police Department and spearheaded by Chief Clint Strode. The department consists of 12 officers, including Chief Strode.
The officers are on duty and on campus at all times.
According to Chief Strode, “There’s a lot of different phases leading up to, during, and after many types of incidents,” he said, “Some of the things that we’re doing to prepare and plan and prevent…is to have mechanisms in place to identify problems before they happen.”
In this attempt to take a preventative stance, the UPD provides safety resources like the emergency phones and shuttles services.
Students have noticed these attempts to strive towards safety on campus.
“I really like how they have the shuttles driving around and the blue telephones that are placed throughout the school,” she said, “I just wish they were a little more open about their preparedness when it comes to events that can affect our safety.” said Chrysta Borba (junior, Sociology).
However not all worries are addressed and solved easily.
“The school does get very dark in certain places at night and that can be a little nerve wracking when you’re alone,” Borba added.
One of the key tools utilized by the university and UPD to address worries such as this is StanCares, which is a team consisting of student affairs, psychological counselors, and human resources.
Calling 9-1-1 means the person has an emergency, although not all calls require an instant response from UPD. StanCares provides students with a chance to report incidents and concerns without the worry of their claim being insignificant.
“I would much rather go out and check on something that doesn’t need my attention than miss something that did. I can’t stress enough, if people don’t think something meets the criteria of calling the police but they still think it’s ‘off’, they can use the StanCares report form and they can report it. That way, it is still being reported and it is still being addressed.” said Chief Strode.
The University is providing another tool to assist students in a multitude of ways.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone gets through campus successfully and then go on a successful life,” Strode added.
With thousands of students enrolled in classes each year having a reporting system accessible to the many eyes and ears on campus is one of the ways that Stan and the UPD provide safety and attempt to better their community.
