The Campus Public Safety Office held an open house on Thursday, May 24, in order to raise student awareness about its current location in Shattuck Hall, room 148. Office representatives also wished to inform students about changes that will be taking place to benefit them in terms of safety.
“We’ve set up a 24-hour dispatch center. We’re going to handle incoming and outgoing calls for public safety. Information sharing with officers will be better. There will be customer service 24/7. This center is more optimal for customer service. We’ve only been able to be open from 7 to 3; now we’ll be open 24/7,” said Nicholas Weltch, communications and records supervisor for CPSO.
Weltch stressed the importance of the 24-hour availability of the new dispatch center, which allows students to stay in touch with their campus security officers for a greater period of time and have greater ability to contact them in case of emergency.
According to Portland State Director of Communications Scott Gallagher, PSU scores remarkably high in campus safety compared with other universities.
“We take the safety of faculty and students very seriously. The CPSO and administration meet regularly to discuss safety policies and protocols. Safety is a main priority at PSU. We coordinate very closely with the fire department, the Portland police and the FBI to ensure the safety of campus communications. PSU is a really safe campus compared to many of our peers,” Gallagher said.