Campus Safety is key for thriving college students. When the San José University Police Department patrols campus they reassure safety in our community.
SJSU PD is in charge of making sure all staff and students are safe.
The University Police Department has about 24 peace officers and over 50 civilian personnel, according to a website from the department.
This includes Parking Services, library security, housing security, police cadets and administrative staff, according to the same source.
S. Calderon, University Police Department library community officer, said it's important for him and his colleagues to talk to the community and constantly remind them that if they see something that may be suspicious, troubling, or harmful, they need to reach out right away.
"Specifically for the library, I believe it's all about visibility,” Calderon said. “People seeing us doing our foot patrol on every floor, every few minutes makes people feel more safe."
If there is any type of disturbance or threat to the library, the library community officer’s handle it right away. Calderon said that if law has to be enforced then they will contact the police officers at the university.
"Also communicating with staff to see if there are any ongoing issues we can fix,” Calderon said.
Calderon also said that SJSU police officers have a one mile jurisdiction from campus, meaning they can patrol surrounding neighborhoods around campus as long as it's within the one mile radius.
Calderon said police cadets on campus have jurisdiction in all areas of campus. They patrol parking garages, classroom buildings, housing quads and other campus areas that are heavily occupied.
University Police officer Brandon Clark said there is a difference between patrolling the campus during the day compared to the night.
“Daytime officers deal with campus environments,” Clark said. “We nighttime officers deal with making sure certain parts of the campus are locked and secured like bathrooms, and classrooms or other areas around the housing quad."
Clark said that it's so much other different stuff that goes into law enforcement. He said everyday is different and he never knows what to expect. Officers patrol the surrounding campus neighborhoods to make sure traffic laws are enforced.
"We have traffic enforcement over on 9th and San Salvador because there's dorms over there and students are constantly walking to and from classes,” Clark said.
Officer Clark also said blue phones are placed in certain areas of the campus and are used for calling emergency assistance right away.
According to the SJSU website, Bluelight emergency phones are located all across the campus including in residence halls and parking garages. The website suggests that when walking on campus, take note of where the Bluelight phones are located and use them when needed. Pressing the red button on the blue phone calls emergency assistance right away,” Clark said.
The university offers a safety escort program, SJSU Safe Ride Program, Run, Hide, Fight Training and Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Training, according to a website from University Police. All these services are accessible to all students and faculty.
Communications freshman Nick Elliot said that he feels safer living on campus rather than living near campus.
“I feel safe living on campus because my friends and peers are around me. There’s a lot of homeless people who post up near campus and it’s scary,” Elliot said. "I feel safe on campus because friends and campus police are always easily accessible.”
Business junior major Yojit Sharma said that living on campus is much safer because there's always people walking around campus and UPD is one call away. Sharma also said how living off campus in San José can be a bit alarming because your neighbors might be people who aren’t students, who don't relate.
“At least while living on campus, I'm surrounded by other people who have similar interests,” Sharma said.
Sharma described the constant traffic on and off campus, saying that the campus is most active during the day around 1 p.m.
Early in the afternoon, when walking up Seventh Street to campus, Sharma said he feels the safest because there is always something going on and there are always students outside.
"I live off campus now but when I lived on campus, I felt more safe because there's always friends around campus, especially during the day, the campus is hella active," Sharma said.
"Overall I feel like our campus is pretty safe,” Sharma said. “I feel like our university does a great job with safety but if there was anything they could improve on, it would be adding better lighting in some of the areas of campus. It can be pitch black in certain areas of the campus."
