In a country and a city where gun violence and terrorism seem to dominate our schools, movie theaters, clinics, and stores on a daily basis, an unsettling fear hangs over the heads of many people living in the U.S. as they navigate through daily life. It’s enough to make college students question their security as they walk across campus or merely sit in class. So, what exactly keeps Colorado College safe?
StaffPro, a direct contact with CC’s Campus Safety, is the company that provides security to the faculty, staff, students, and the general public at Colorado College sponsored events. Associate Director of Campus Safety Nick Calkins claims that the StaffPro staff does its best to ensure the safety of CC students, through protocols such as “ID checks, bag checks, and general public control.”
“Our practice is to create a safety plan for every event,” said Calkins. “Many aspects of those plans are universal for every event, but much of the plan depends on the event itself. The venue, expected attendance, inclusion of alcohol, involvement of community members, or the nature of the group performing or individuals speaking all require changes to the plan in order for the event to have the best chance at success.”
Calkins continues, “We employ crowd control queues, ID checkpoints, and design travel routes to manage the flow of people through the event and to allow staff the maximum opportunity to notice individuals that need assistance.”
Although a dangerous situation has never taken place while StaffPro was involved in protecting a CC event, Calkins affirmed that if one ever does take place, StaffPro and Campus Safety would be sure to manage it and ease the fears of those in attendance.
“Before each event, the staff is given a briefing by someone from Campus Safety or the CC event manager for that event and some general guidelines about student interaction are provided.”
Sophomore Kendal McGinnis claims that despite the fact that our school is located in an open-carry city that is riddled with gun violence, she always feels safe at CC events because of the security.
“The school does a great job on protecting its students,” said McGinnis. “I mean, I really got to hand it to Campus Safety, CC Safe Ride, and also StaffPro. They transport you places whenever you don’t feel safe and they are always on guard at all events and parties. They do the job.”
Niyat Ogbazghi
Latest posts by Niyat Ogbazghi (see all)
- StaffPro Event Staff: Keeping CC Safe – Feb 6, 2016
- Music in the Margins – Jan 31, 2016
- Issues arise after reports that Charlie Sheen is HIV positive – Dec 4, 2015