Events: Security a key concern

Last week’s tragic events in Boston—the bombing at the Boston Marathon and the deadly shooting of Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer Sean Collier—left the country shaken and questioning a fundamental thing that sometimes gets taken for granted: safety.

Have recent events changed the way Portland State will plan for security at larger events that are hosted on campus?

“What you’re finding is that these bigger crimes are happening around urban institutions,” said Campus Public Safety Office Chief Phil Zerzan. “[PSU is] part of [a] larger community. Urban institutions are integrated with the things that happen around them and are affected by them.”

Security is an essential part of planning any event on campus, although most events at PSU are relatively minor, Zerzan said.

“We always have security planned for events [on campus],” he said. “Generally speaking, the events that we have don’t draw huge crowds. If there was a larger event we would plan appropriately.”

Planning appropriately would include reaching out to additional local police organizations, such as Portland Police Bureau and local fire and emergency medical services agencies, to cover the bases for possible emergency situations.

“With a larger event, depending on significance and size, we would plan [for security] with other agencies and partner with them,” Zerzan said.

Because of Zerzan’s lengthy career with the Oregon State Police and Oregon State University he has the knowledge necessary to coordinate that kind of security coverage.

“If needed, I’m familiar with that type of planning due to my experience…working for Oregon State Police and working at Oregon State University,” he said.

CPSO also has plans in place in case of various emergency situations that might occur on campus, such as an active shooter. More information on these plans is available on CPSO’s website at pdx.edu/cpso/emergency-management.