Public Safety
Crime Prevention
Read This!
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Secure your belongings: Keep personal items with you—don’t leave them unattended in public spaces. Always lock your room or vehicle when you leave, even briefly.
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Control building access: Don’t let others follow you into residence halls without swiping. Contact Public Safety for help if needed.
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Track valuables: Keep a personal property inventory in case items are lost or stolen.
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Protect your bike: Park in well-lit areas and use a sturdy U-lock or chain on a bike rack.
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Avoid scams: Legitimate organizations won’t call, email, or text asking for money or sensitive information.
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Protect your accounts: Never share your Star ID or passwords—SCSU will not ask for them via email.
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Store documents safely: Keep important items like your Social Security card and passport in a secure place.
Crime Prevention and Response
At. St. Cloud State University, we protect the pack from crime, other threats, and violence on or near our campus. Campus safety professionals continuously monitor campus safety conditions and rapidly respond to any incident or call for assistance. Members of our pack are also part of our campus efforts to stay safe. That means faculty, staff, students, and visitors are encouraged to stay informed and alert, while taking part in safety practices to protect themselves and each other.
Steps our Safety Officials take to Protect the Pack
Monitoring safety conditions
SCSU’s Public Safety monitors officer patrol activities through GPS tracking, and regularly reviews patrol activity in relation to incidents on campus. Using incident reporting software, Public Safety has the ability to map incident locations within a specific time frame across campus, so that the incident map can be compared with the patrol activity map. Public Safety leadership reviews patrol and incident maps and data with Public Safety supervisors in weekly meetings, highlighting incident trends, predicting incident trends based on precedents and patterns, ensuring that patrols are addressing incident locations, and directing shifts in patrols when needed to respond to those trends. This careful analysis gives Public Safety a proactive edge in responding to and preventing security concerns.
Keeping a watchful eye on campus conditions
St. Cloud State University recently expanded exterior camera coverage by nearly 40%, focusing on high-traffic areas that were not previously monitored, and areas that are along the border of campus. Public Safety Dispatchers monitor specific cameras 24 hours a day, and will dispatch officers to investigate any suspicious activity. This increase in exterior camera placement broadens our span of monitoring for safety and security across campus. Additionally, Public Safety uses dash cameras in patrol vehicles to increase mobile security camera coverage across campus.
Monitoring safety conditions in neighborhoods nearby
Public Safety routinely monitors areas near campus for safety concerns that could impact the campus, SCSU employees, or students. Public Safety works in close cooperation with the St. Cloud Police Department, the City of St. Cloud, and area landlords to notify them of such concerns when they are observed. Officers will also walk with or transport students or employees at night, up to four blocks from campus. SCSU Public Safety shares information and resources with local law enforcement to help continuously improve safety in the area of campus. SCSU representatives attend city meetings and town halls, and work on ways to collaborate with city, state, and other agencies and non-profits to improve the health of our community.
Patrols and dispatch services
Public Safety officers perform vehicle, foot, and bike patrols of campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Officers respond to calls for service, investigate and complete reports on incidents, and refer incidents to law enforcement agencies when appropriate. Dispatchers monitor security cameras, answer telephone calls, dispatch officers to incidents, and monitor the blue light emergency call boxes, elevator call boxes, and stairwell assistance call boxes located across campus.
Access to campus buildings
Public Safety administers the electronic access control systems on campus, ensuring that only authorized persons can access buildings during restricted or limited access hours, and maintaining records of who accessed buildings during these hours. This ensures that only authorized students and employees can access buildings at night after they’ve closed to the public. Public Safety also consults on building access plans and hours, ensuring that safety and security best practices are followed.