The first campus-safety presentation of the semester followed the same trend as most crime-prevention lectures at ASU: Very few people showed up.
The attendance number for Monday’s event, called “Knowing When and How to Respond to Critical Safety Issues,” was two.
The presentations, put on monthly by the ASU police department, Student Life and Counseling and Consultation, haven’t drawn crowds since they were mandatory for faculty and staff several years ago.
“[The course] has become a strong recommendation but is not required anymore,” Student Life Program Coordinator Tiffany Harvey said.
The course was instituted after a 2005 incident when former ASU football player Loren Wade shot and killed ASU football player, Brandon Falkner, outside a Scottsdale club.
“There was an internal audit that showed the University wasn’t meeting the safety and security requirements,” Harvey said. “There were gaps, and this fills the expectation [of safety requirements.]”
The class, aimed at faculty, staff and students, was established after the incident and was obligatory until somewhat recently, she said.
Stewart Adams, a crime-
prevention specialist for the ASU police department, has participated in the presentations for years.
“Attendance was high when we first started,” he said. “We were seeing 50 or 60 people, and then it gradually dipped.”
Adams said virtually all departments and colleges on the Tempe campus attended the lectures when they were held twice a month, so most members of the ASU community have already been reached.
“This past semester, every class has had less than five people,” Adams said.
The group is considering putting the lecture online so it can reach more people.
“Faculty and staff especially have to know the policies for reporting weapons on campus,” Adams said, emphasizing the importance since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, when a student shot and killed 32 people and injured more than 20 others before committing suicide.
Harvey said there have been at least three cases of reported weapons on campus since the beginning of the spring semester.
“Students are usually suspended or expelled,” she said. “And they’re often never allowed back on campus.”
As part of a settlement for a 2004 sexual-assault case, Nancy Tribbensee, Arizona Board of Regents general counsel, was appointed the first student-safety coordinator for Arizona’s universities. She will review policies on sexual assault, harassment, discrimination and gender equity.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
