Campus Safety and Security showcases new features at open house

The Auburn University Campus Safety and Security showcased recent renovations including a stormproof emergency operations center and the Auburn Police Division’s new University Precinct.

Campus Safety and Security moved into its current building in 2009, which previously housed an Auburn Credit Union, but little renovations were undertaken before and during the transition.

The renovations showcased Friday were intended to make the building more functional as well as bring the University Precinct into the building.

“Now, if we have a problem or something going on with law enforcement or fire, I can literally just walk down the hall and go, ‘Hey, man, what’s going on over here?’ instead of having to pick the phone up,” said Chance Corbett, interim executive director of Campus Safety and Security.

The renovations, which were finished in January 2018 but displayed at the open house on Friday, took the building from 9,362 square feet to 14,887 square feet.

“Not only did it add space, but the layout originally was for a bank, and it just wasn’t that conducive to what we have now,” said Jameson Presley, administrative lieutenant for APD’s University Precinct. “And I didn’t realize it’d be this big, to tell you the truth.”

A segment of the building, where the drive-thru at the Credit Union was, is now a shelter for various operations. According to the department, it can now operate, fully functional, even during EF4 tornado conditions.

The shelter includes a video wall with live video feed from all the camera systems across campus. They also monitor intrusion alarms and panic buttons from all of campus.

“A minute ago, we just heard of a suspicious person at the bookstore," said Tony Dean, associate director for campus security. "Immediately, they hear that, they start working the cameras, zooming in looking for the individual. That way they can feed information to the police department before the police officers arrive on scene.” 

Dean said prior to the renovations, the video monitoring was not nearly as robust as it is now. The video system can stream feed through both hardwire or wirelessly.

The emergency operations center and control areas for game-day activations are also housed in the stormproof part of the building. Any emergencies are monitored in this center.

The sheltered portion of the building can operate up to 10 days without electricity because it can be powered by diesel fuel.

Corbett said he was pleased with how the open house turned out. Elected representatives from SGA and City Council, including newly elected SGA President Dane Block and Mayor Bill Ham, showed support with their attendance.

“We wanted to show people what we have,” Corbett said. “Sometimes, you just don’t realize what’s there, and this gave them the opportunity to come by and actually see it firsthand and know what we have in place.“

The renovations also included a new consultation room. It was designed to create a more relaxed environment for students to seek consultation on safety and security issues with an official.

For the open house, the new conference room had snacks for attendees as well as Clery compliance officers who discussed how crimes are reported and documented.

“I think was a huge turnout,” Corbett said. “It was a very positive reception for everybody, I think everybody was happy.”