ALANA WINGATE
Staff Writer
Fredonia’s University Police Department (UPD) is calling out to all students and faculty to give everyone on campus a crash course in campus safety. UPD will hold a safety seminar on Feb. 22 in the Kelly Auditorium of the Science Center at 2:30 p.m. The seminar is scheduled to last 90 minutes, and students and faculty will be able to ask questions regarding safety on campus.
University Police Chief Brent Isaacson will lead the seminar and go over safety measures with the help of UPD officers.
Isaacson was sworn in as chief back in 2019, when he shared that he planned to build on the police work at SUNY Fredonia by enhancing the community police program and specialized training. The police seminar will demonstrate many safety scenarios including how training and police programming is conducted.
The chief plans to go over safety procedures, such as how to prevent targeted violence in active shooting incidents, what happens on our campus if concerning behaviors are reported, how UPD are staffed and trained to operate to keep everyone on campus safe and what you can do as a student or faculty to increase campus security.
Considering the mass shooting cases that have happened on college campuses around the country, UPD is stressing the importance of safety, and how to react or conduct yourself in a safe manner on campus in more severe safety situations.
The chief has advised all students to program UPD’s phone number into their phones as one of his safety tips. In the case of an emergency, contacting UPD rather than 911 will enable quicker responses to be taken. You can also download the Rave Guardian app, which is available for iPhone and Android phones. The software includes numerous features that are beneficial to students, including a police badge icon. In the event of an emergency where you need to be located but are unable to provide your exact location for any reason, pressing this badge will not only summon the police department, but it will also provide your exact location.
Howevever, only when the student activates the app on their phone will it show the student’s location.
UPD can be reached 24/7 at 716-673-3333.