Green River Takes Action to Help Students Feel Safe on Campus
By: Mario Pimentel
Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2018
Students can feel safe at Green River thanks to all the work Campus Safety does.
At Green River I think that all students should feel safe, and I would say that most students do feel safe here. I also personally feel that I am in no danger on campus. Still this does not mean that some may feel in danger at times that is where Campus Safety comes in to help.
The very first thing to note is that whenever anything happens Campus Safety will notify students. This is either through the timely warnings, sent by emails, or by the safety alerts through phones. Students can sign up for alerts through the Green River website, but the timely warnings will always be sent to everyone so that no one is left in the dark.
Not only do these alerts tell you what has happened, it will also give you tips to avoid being in the same situation. “We want students to be aware of the situations going on in the campus so that students can form a defensive plan for themselves,” said Campus Safety Director, Derek Ronnfeldt.
These warnings and alerts are not only for crimes that happen on campus, they could be any number of things. Weather notifications, accident reports, campus status updates and other potential emergencies. One of Campus Safety’s goals is to make every student aware of any situation that could affect them.
This is not the only thing they do; in the past year they have also started to clear up foliage and branches from the trails and other hard to see areas of the campus. Last year on campus, there were a series of car break-ins. Campus safety acted to prevent further thefts.
Another Improvement that safety has made is the training of their officers that patrol around the campus. Safety now has six months of active training for all its officers. Another part of the new training is active shooter training. Sadly, local schools have experienced active shooter situations, so campus safety has taken precautions to prepare Green River College.
These officers do not just walk around they are there to help you, if you have a problem you can report it to any officer. They also are part of the escort service that Green River has, if for any reason you do not feel safe walking to your car, they will personally escort you to your car and see to it that you are safe. They can also drive you to your car, if it is a far trip and you don’t feel safe going alone. This is something that a student could need in the future.
“There are no small issues; we treat every issue as a big issue. What seems small to others isn’t small to the person it happened to, so we treat every issue as if it happened to us personally.” said Ronnfeldt.
Even if you feel that it is a waste of time to delve any deeper into the issue, you should inform safety so that other students are aware of the situation. Safety will not know unless you inform them, no one in the world can be everywhere at once, and you should report the situation no matter how small.
One last thing safety is doing to help students stay safe is releasing a module that goes over all the services that the Campus Safety Office offers in detail. Every Green River student can access this module on their canvas. Safety is always trying to improve the campus and is always working towards something. Currently safety is working to place more lights and cameras around campus.
Campus safety wants you to be safe; they provide all these resources to you so that you can be prepared for anything that might happen. All students should feel safe at Green River, and Campus Safety does everything it can to ensure your safety.
