As the 2014-2015 school year kicks off, PLU Campus Safety is headlining new policies and enforcing old policies in new ways. CSAF works to promote a safe environment and acts as PLU’s enforcement agency for campus problems. CSAF is instating a new shuttle service policy, hiring off-duty police officers and hoping to make ’14-’15 go smoother than previous years.
This year, the CSAF shuttle service is changing its hours and radius around campus. The shuttle service picks up students on or off campus in a PLU vehicle and transports them to another location. It runs 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily.
A CSAF officer will walk with a student to a location to ensure a safe arrival as part of the CSAF escort service, which runs 24/7.
With the new hours, CSAF also enforces a new shuttle pick up and drop off perimeter. The shuttle service can pick up and drop off at locations from to 116th St. to Tule Lake Road and from Pacific Ave. to Washington High School.
The shuttle perimeter was only shortened on the north and west sides of campus because the extended radius was not a good use of school time and equipment, said Greg Premo, Director of Campus Safety.
It seemed that the calls could be narrowed down to three or four houses in the extended perimeter using the shuttle service to and from class, Premo said. The new radius was worked out over the last year by CSAF, RHA and ASPLU after holding open forums for students to be involved in the decision.
“The new shuttle radius is the original radius that Campus Safety had before 2005,” Premo said. “For some reason, it was changed in 2005, and it isn’t the best use of our time.”
According to Premo, the time it takes a shuttle to get to and from the far houses takes time away from responses to closer issues and can cause a backup.
This year, PLU is also hiring off-duty police officers to patrol campus and around campus in the afternoons and nights. Over the last year, CSAF has received a high number of complaints from the residents surrounding PLU about off-campus parties being loud and unsafe.
In response, CSAF hired a group of about 20 police officers to watch over campus for parties, illegal activity and speeding. The police officers are not working for PLU, so if an officer shuts down a party, it’s to that officers discernment whether or not the house should be fined and whether or not to arrest students. Most parties usually are given a ticket at most, Premo said.
Off-campus parties are a major problem PLU faces. Premo said students disturb the community and leave parties drunk or high, disrupting the campus environment. PLU is a dry campus, which means any students found drunk or high will be sent through Student Conduct. Tickets have already been given out to loud, off-campus parties during the first weekend of school.
CSAF will not call your parents, discipline you or find you guilty of any crimes. CSAF is the enforcement and safety group on campus; therefore, they will write down and report on issues and then send the reports through the necessary channels.
“Campus Safety addresses the small issues,” Premo said. “We’ll come and try to fix the situation, we’ll call the Sherriff’s Department or the fire department if it is necessary, but we are the first responders.”
Currently, CSAF is seeing high numbers of bike thefts and unattended item thefts. Bikes, purses and backpacks are all crimes of opportunity, Premo said. Students should remember to not leave personal items unattended, always lock up their bikes and report any suspicious activity.
Weekly CSAF briefs can be found in The Mooring Mast.
