Campus Safety

After incidents of violence at Virginia Tech and the University of Washington, certain steps need to be taken at college campuses nationwide. Safety and security need to be increased to ensure these tragedies do not happen again.

Ways to Increase Security and Safety on Campus

College administrations need to plan and prevent by taking the following safety measures.

On-Campus Safety Measures

  1. Have a good system in place for announcing emergencies.
  2. Be able to quickly shut down a college campus.
  3. Have the proper alarms and sirens in place.
  4. Be able to remotely lock down doors to buildings and halls.
  5. Be able to send a mass emergency text message and SMS warnings to all students and staff, as they happen.
  6. Place Locks on classroom doors, so students don't have to risk their lives by trying to wedge doors shut when a killer is on the loose.

Personal Safety

  1. Try not to walk alone, especially at night.
  2. Have a campus escort service in place, where someone can walk a student home, or provide a shuttle service.
  3. Make sure all areas of campus are well lit.
  4. Offer a help line for troubled students

Campus Police

  1. Have Security on foot patrol around campus.
  2. Maybe even post up one security guard per building or area of campus.
  3. Make safety a priority, rather than parking tickets.
  4. Keep close watch on those individuals with histories of violence and danger.

Dorm Room Security

  1. Install more sturdy and secure dorm room doors. Most are cheap and hollow.
  2. Have 24-hour dorm security.
  3. Don't let strangers in, only admit your own visitors to residence halls.
  4. Ensure all entrance doors are securely shut.