Keeping school campuses safe for everyone

School campuses have been the victims of crimes and threats over the past decade.

In the past decade, there has been a lot of reports of crimes and threats on college campuses and high schools. Recently, there have been school shootings in Richfield, Minnesota, and at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were targets of bomb threats leading into Black History Month.

Schools have made improvements to their campus like light fixtures, campus police, and security officers. These necessary security enhancements can prevent crimes from occurring while also providing everyone on campus a sense of security.

Tim Legarde is a campus lieutenant at the University of Minnesota at Duluth. He said safety is the top priority at the campus.

“Safety is our job! Safety is what we are here for. So, we’ll take steps far as training, as far as everyday actions to constantly keep up with the growing and evolving threats that come through society. So our mission is to keep everyone safe, so they do not have to think about it,” says Legarde.

In July of 2021, YourLocalSecurity.com named UMD the safest college campus in Minnesota. They looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security and the FBI’s uniform crime report before granting the campus that award.

In a statement, Police Chief Sean Huls said in the UMDPD News, “We are proud and grateful for this recognition, which reflects the dedication of all campus safety partners as we strive to make UMD a secure, welcoming place to learn, enlighten, and live.”

When students feel safe on campus, it makes a difference in their lives. It allows them to focus on their studies and not have to fully focus on everything that going on around them.

“I feel generally safe. I lived here my first two years, and I felt okay going to my car at night and stuff,” Jamie Duncan, UMD Junior majoring in Elementary and Special Education. “And walking around inside is safe too."

“I always see different cops and the campus security driving around contently, checking cars and everything. Making sure everything is safe, and that is perfect,” said Trevor Schmidt, UMD Sophomore Majoring in Psychology.

UMDPD has a full-service police department with eleven officers that serve the campus and patrols the neighborhoods near campus 24 hours, 365 days a year so the students can feel safe.