The Public Safety Advisory Board (PSAB) discovered that students’ primary recommendations for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) include installing more blue emergency lights, sharing more information on past crimes and alerts, making Safety Shuttle more accessible and increasing communication between students and DPS officers.

The PSAB collected these recommendations during their first “table sit” in the HUB on April 6. The goal was to collect students’ campus safety concerns in order to provide results to DPS for future action.

Shivani Rishi ’16, chair of the PSAB, says that the table sit brought numerous responses from students. Lights were one issue students requested be addressed, including needing blue lights on campus past Denny on Dickinson Ave. closer to the 25/27 apartments, and more lighting in back alleys such as Dickinson Ave. and the alley behind the Reed Street houses.

Students also expressed a desire for more information on the bomb threat received last semester, more vans and drivers for Safety Shuttle and more interactions between students and officers so students know those responsible for protecting them on campus.

After the PSAB studied the results of the table sit, the next step was to compile a comprehensive list to present to DPS. Once the concerns are given to officers, Rishi intends to meet with DPS to discuss potential action plans based on the results they gathered.

“I will sit down with members of the department and go over the points and talk about what is feasible,” said Rishi. “We hope to get some of these points addressed as soon as possible.”

The PSAB was created by Rishi and Michele Metcalf ’16 in Sept. 2015 to fill a gap left by the dissolution of a 2009 public safety board due to graduating members. The board meets every other week, generally attended by either Corporal Haggerty or Captain Guido of DPS.

“The function is for the board to serve as a liaison between the students and DPS,” said Kristin Erickson ’18, member of the PSAB. “When there are issues that students find to be pressing or in need of revision, we work to make those changes happen.”

Although this was their first table sit, Erickson said that it is something PSAB would like to continue on a broader scale in the future.

“I have only been a part of PSAB for this semester so I am new. With that said, it has been a positive experience thus far,” said Erickson.

The board is looking for new members to join next year and students willing to take on a leadership position. Any interested students can email the chair of PSAB at [email protected] for more information.