With safety a top concern for students living downtown, ASU outfitted the Downtown Phoenix campus’s newest residence hall with four layers of security.

Taylor Place, a 13-story facility that opened Wednesday, houses 744 students from the colleges of Public Programs and Nursing & Healthcare Innovation, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and University College.

Political science junior Ashley Sherman spent the summer working in the Taylor Place operations office as the residence hall was constructed and has seen each safety feature move from idea to reality.

Sherman said she feels completely safe in Taylor Place and the surrounding downtown areas, breaking away from the stereotype that downtown areas are crime-stricken and dangerous.

“I think all students will feel safe here,” she said, “There are many different levels of security.”

Cassandra Aska, director of the Department of Student Engagement, said Taylor Place has four security checks before a student can access his or her residential room.

The first level is entering the hall. After 7 p.m., residents must use their Sun Cards to access the building and are routed past a security desk managed by a professional security officer 24 hours a day, Aska said.

Students are required to check in all guests at this desk, she said.
Visitors must show a valid form of identification and be escorted by a resident.

A second level of security will be added by the end of the month, when students will have to use their Sun Cards to gain access to the elevator area. The cards will activate a turnstile similar to those used in subway systems, Aska said.

Once inside the enclosed elevator area, students must again use their Sun Card to activate a keypad and call the elevator, she said.

The student’s personal key is required to enter each residential room .
“The security here is really serious. Nobody gets past that security desk,” Sherman said.

Journalism sophomore Charlie Jannetto, a community assistant, said ASU has put a lot of effort into making sure Taylor Place is secure.

“Police officers are here in the residence hall just to see what’s going on,” he said.

Fellow CA and nursing sophomore Sabrina Wedin agreed that the close partnership with Phoenix police allows students to feel safe.

“Our coordinator has their [police officers’] cell phone numbers, so we don’t have to call 911 or a public line if there is a problem. We can contact them immediately,” she said.

She said the officers are approachable.

“They eat dinner here and really make their presence known,” she said.

ASU police officers work regularly with the Phoenix Police Department concerning many issues of the Downtown campus, most recently including Taylor Place, Aska said.

A team of 23 police aides, liaisons and security personnel monitor ASU Downtown and Taylor Place 24 hours a day, she said.

Additional security measures within Taylor Place, like alarms on all exterior doors and 70 security cameras that are closely monitored, may be less obvious to students.

Similar to the Tempe campus, there are emergency call boxes across the Downtown campus and construction is currently underway to build more.

The 43 boxes are yellow with blue lights and can be used to access immediate police aid in any emergency situation.

Journalism sophomore Randi Stevenson said the security measures at Taylor Place are more extensive than those in the Tempe residence halls.

“I actually feel a lot safer here,” she said. “The police officer-to-student ratio is higher. Looking out my window I can see officers walking around.”

Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu