The Atlanta Senate held its second meeting on September 16, which further set forth Student Government’s commitment to getting things done. At this meeting, the central focus was safety as Interim GSUPD Chief Anthony Coleman and Major Nicolay Hammond were guests for the meeting.
They shared with SGA several new policies within the organization. These are just some of the things GSUPD is doing not just on the Downtown Campus but also on the Perimeter Campuses.
New Cameras/No Call Boxes:
If you ask many of the upperclassmen still left at Georgia State, they can tell you all about the broken call boxes. However, many have forgotten them already as GSUPD removed them. Georgia State students were outraged by the decision.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Chief Coleman, “The call boxes simply weren’t being used; in an audit, we took on the callbox use most of them were from repairmen and officers testing the boxes…they cost a lot to maintain. So we shifted those funds elsewhere.”
One of the programs is new cameras, “We are getting some 400 new camera’s around our campuses… funding is coming from the money we aren’t spending on those call boxes.” said Major Hammond
Joint Policing:
GSUPD has teamed up with the Atlanta Police Department and the MARTA Police Force to engage in biking patrols in high-traffic and high-crime areas. These police-monitored areas will be located in the Peachtree Center, Georgia State MARTA stations and the Atlanta Underground path between Popeye’s and Rainbow.
Strategic Policing:
Major Hammond went in-depth about the department’s placement system. “We get data from the Registrar’s Office about when and where students are so we can place officers accordingly.” She said, citing specific examples.
“We have an officer that walks from the Andrew Young building and works his way down to Aderhold. He does that about 8:30, so he can wake some of our sleeping residents and help them to where they need to be.”
She also mentioned late-night patrols near the RaceTrac on Piedmont Ave. due to the ever-increasing late-night activity at the location.
Mental Health:
Chief Coleman discussed mental health first aid within the force as well, “99% of our officers are crisis intervention certified, we made a commitment to having 100% of our force trained, and we are upholding that promise.”
On average, police forces have 40-60% of their staff trained. GSUPD is blowing that statistic out of the water. They also teamed up with the Center for Counseling and Test to have mental health first aid training.
They have already begun to train other departments, such as the Dean of Students and University Housing. GSUPD also is asking everyone to download the LiveSafe App. The app allows students to report both emergency and non-emergency crimes.
It also has a safety map that shows AEDs and University buildings that have security staff on site. The app also allows students to request safety escorts, access emergency event procedures, send crime stoppers reports and share their location with emergency personnel.
“LiveSafe is the quickest and easiest way to get in contact with GSUPD,” said Chief Coleman.
The app also allows you to add other universities in the state, such as Georgia Tech. So no matter where you are, you have access to emergency services through the app.
