Page 29 - College Planning & Management, April 2017

Safety & Security PREPARE AND BE AWARE
Managing Campus Visitors
In today’s world, colleges and universities must not allow campus visitors to come and go without scrutiny.
BY MICHAEL FICKES
VIOLENT EVENTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY have led college and university security directors to change the way they manage campus visitors.
Time was, open campuses offered a warm welcome to visitors — townspeople and others — who were not part of the campus com- munity. Of course, campuses employed security forces. “In the past, security officers had certain posts, perhaps at each entrance to the campus,” says Paul Timm, president of RETA Security, Inc. in Lemont, IL. “Others had fixed patrol routes.”
Under this system, members of the community as well as visi-
tors pretty much came and went as they pleased. Security reacted when something needing a response happened.
Occasionally, a protest or a pep rally broke out and security would watch a little closer. Their presence often deterred trouble. If it didn’t and trouble erupted, they would step in quickly to handle the problem.
It’s Different Today
These days, college and university security people have decided that such an approach is too open. Security officers aim to be proactive, spot developing problems — caused by individuals or
APRIL 2017 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 29
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID SHANKBONE