Updates and Upgrades From College of Charleston Public Safety

^{Photo by Catie Cleveland}

The College of Charleston’s Fire and EMS and Department of Public Safety are dedicated to setting new standards for College safety and policing.

The Department of Public Safety’s new state-of-the-art dispatch center is up and running, and will speed up response times and make it easier to monitor 911 calls south of the Crosstown and respond to events on and around campus. The department will be holding an open house in the near future for the campus community to visit the new dispatch center and see all of the updates made to the headquarters. Stay tuned!

The Department of Public Safety continues to dramatically increase its training for police officers in active aggressor response and continues to expand the program. Public safety has trained extensively in College Lodge – and, thanks to staff at the Jewish Studies Center and the School of Sciences and Mathematics Building – the department has been able to stage training in actual buildings on campus. This is huge for our officers and for the department, not to mention excellent for improving campus safety, because it allows training to be as realistic as possible.

In addition to officers increasing their training, the department now has five instructors on staff who can present Texas State University’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training – and will soon attend the latest course to get the updated training. Over the last year, the Department of Public Safety has trained over 500 faculty and staff in the latest active shooter preparation. In addition, the department has extended this training to other schools and churches near and around the campus to better prepare the entire community for an event. Participants in CRASE not only receive the latest in ALERRT’s Department of Justice–approved training for these events, but also training in “Stop the Bleed,” which is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons, and teaches proper tourniquet application, as well as other methods of stopping bleeding from traumatic injuries. 

In conjunction with the ALERRT CRASE training, the College has adopted the latest in DOJ-approved techniques to survive an active aggressor event: AVOID. DENY. DEFEND. This tested program replaces “run, hide, fight” with a more modern perspective and is based on lessons learned. The department is in the process of integrating it throughout campus and into all the online training for new employees and students.

Having fully upgraded its ability to respond not only with training, but with the best tools to do the job, the department’s dedication to preparation in training and equipment is due to be featured in the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy “Lineup” online training, which will be required viewing by every officer in South Carolina.

The College is one of only five colleges in the state to be awarded the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies’ certification. The commission sets the standard in police accreditation and reviews the department’s policies and procedures to make sure they not only comply with best practices, but that they are followed and applied. The College’s Department of Public Safety continues to meet these rigorous standards.

College of Charleston police and public safety officers are here to assist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The non-emergency number is 843.953.5609. Always dial 911 in emergencies! And the campus community is always invited to stop by and visit the public safety headquarters at 89 St. Phillip St.

To host a CRASE training course for your department, please contact Deputy Chief Rusty Myers at myersr1@charleston.edu.