Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety

EMU Department of Public Safety

The Eastern Michigan Department of Public Safety is located in the Public Safety building, formerly called the Hoyt Conference Center, on the campus of Eastern Michigan University. It has three parts: the Police Department which includes SEEUS (Student Eyes and Ears for University Safety), Emergency Management, and Environmental Health and Safety.

Police Department

Police cruisers

The Police Department is comprised 29 officers that are vested with full law enforcement powers and responsibilities, identical to the local police or sheriff's department in your home community.[1] Their mission statement is: "The mission of the Eastern Michigan University Department of Public Safety is to organize security and public activities which enhance the quality of campus life, and protect life, property, and individual rights."[1] The department also offers programs available to the community, ranging from theft prevention, building security and campus safety, to mock drunk driving arrest and rape aggression defense.[2] There are also emergency phones, and emergency assistance stations(eas) located in many of the buildings on campus by the entrances and exits. By pulling these a video pops up on the display at the dispatch, and audio also comes up, so dispatch can both see and hear you while near the eas.[3]

Parking Department

EMU Parking is now under the operation of EMU Business and Finance. Thought they still work closely with the Department of Public Safety, they are no longer an office within The Department of Public Safety. The parking department operates under the statement of authority given to them by the Board of Regents for Eastern Michigan University pursuant to and in accordance with the authority and responsibility of said board as provided in the Constitution of the state of Michigan, Act 300 of the Michigan Public Acts of 1949 (Michigan Vehicle Code) as amended, and Act 291 of the Public Acts of 1967, as amended.[4] The parking department runs all of the parking lots, including the pay, staff, and commuter. They also sell the parking passes to all of the students, faculty and staff that need them.[5] The parking department also issues tickets for parking violations on campus, including expired meters, parking in the wrong lot, and going over 15 min. time limits.[6]

Campus safety

SEEUS

SEEUS (Student Eyes and Ears for University Safety) is designed to enhance your safety and peace of mind while you walk on campus after dark.[7] It is run by a Sergeant in the police department that acts as the coordinator, but is staffed entirely by student employees. SEEUS runs from 5p.m. until 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 5p.m. until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The shifts on Sunday through Thursday consist of two sets of walking shifts, a lot check shift, a building check shift, and a van shift. Friday and Saturday there are only two walking shifts each day. There is also a shift, where they check all of the emergency poles, as well as the emergency assistance stations.[8] This safety in numbers program is available year round, as well as in all types of weather, ranging from pleasant sunny warm weather, to blizzards and downpours.

Laura Dickinson incident

The death of an EMU student in 2006, and EMU's Clery Act violation, have led to significant and sweeping changes in EMU public safety notifications and overall campus safety within EMU residence halls.

Emergency Management

The EMU Emergency Management Office was created in 2009 under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The Emergency Management Office is dedicated to creating and maintaining a safe and resilient campus community through planning and education efforts. Using an all-hazards approach, EMU Emergency Management works to mitigate the effects of, plan for, respond to and quickly recover from emergencies of every type. They also operate the EMU Campus Community Emergency Response Team, a volunteer organization tasked with assisting first responders in the aftermath of a disaster and providing support at special events. If you are interested in receiving emergency preparedness or response training, exercise development help to test your emergency response capabilities or just have a general question about EMU's emergency preparedness efforts please feel free to contact them.

Environmental Health and Safety

The primary objective of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is to assist the campus community in complying with safety, health and environmental regulations. The University must also be a good steward of the environment and public health. Compliance is achieved through training, awareness, inspections and prompt attention to safety and environmental concerns. By working together, a safe environment for working, learning, living and visiting is provided. If you would like to file a complaint or have a safety audit of your workspace done, contact EHS.

See also

Eastern Michigan University

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/police.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/crimeprevention.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/multimedia/emergassist.html
  4. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/parking.htm#statement
  5. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/permits.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/parking.htm#violations
  7. ↑ http://www.emich.edu/publicsafety/seeus.htm
  8. ↑ seeus handbook