Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
This will be our final monthly message of the Fall 2023 semester. The entire Department of Public Safety (DPS) team is grateful to our campus community members for their cooperation and commitment to safety throughout this year. I wish for you all to have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.
Listed below are some brief updates from the DPS team:
- Destress With DPS
- Spring Semester Engagement Efforts
- Preparing Residences for Winter Break
- Orange Safe Feature: Shuttle Schedules and Tracker
- Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services (CSEMS) Achievements
- Monthly Bias Update
Destress With DPS
During finals week at the end of each semester make sure you “Destress with DPS” at Bird Library. Take a break from the studying to grab some snacks, interact with our team and spend some time with therapy dogs! This event will be held tonight from 8 to 11 p.m.
Be sure to mark your calendar and follow us on social media for more information @SyracuseDPS.
Spring Semester Engagement Efforts
Our DPS team is always looking for opportunities to connect with our campus community. Here is what we have planned for 2024:
Community Police Academy: Our Community Police Academy is back again for the Spring 2024 semester. This is a free four-week program designed to give eligible students, faculty and staff an idea of what it’s like to protect and serve our campus community. The classes will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Lyman Hall, Room 132, on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Feb. 14
- Wednesday, Feb. 21
- Wednesday, Feb. 28
- Wednesday, March 6
To learn more and apply, please visit the Community Police Academy webpage.
R.A.D. Self Defense Classes: R.A.D. is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. The R.A.D. system is a comprehensive course that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, and progressing on to the basics of hands-on defense training. The classes will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at 1330 Jamesville Ave. on the following dates:
- Tuesday, Jan. 30
- Tuesday, Feb. 6
- Tuesday, Feb. 20
- Tuesday, March 5
To learn more and register, visit the R.A.D. webpage.
Preparing Residences for Winter Break
As many of you plan to depart campus for the winter break, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you to take necessary action to protect your residences, offices, cubicle spaces and belongings. Please review our latest informational notice about how to secure your spaces.
While many members of our community will be heading elsewhere after finals, many will remain around campus. As a reminder, the Department of Public Safety is always working and available to you. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 315.443.2224 if you observe anything concerning.
Orange Safe Feature: Shuttle Schedules and Tracker
Did you know you can check shuttle schedules and see a live tracker of the shuttles around campus in the Orange Safe app? To find this feature, open the Orange Safe app and select “Support Resources” from the home page. Then select “Campus Shuttle,” from there you will be able to access the “Shuttle Schedules” and get live information as to where shuttles are and when you can expect one relative to your location.
If you haven’t already downloaded Orange Safe, I urge you to do so. You can learn more about the app and how to download by visiting the Orange Safe webpage.
Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services (CSEMS) Achievements
Our CSEMS team has accomplished great things throughout 2023. We have highlighted the wonderful achievements of our team through our Employee of the Month initiative and our recently held CSEMS Awards Program:
Employees of the Month: Sergeant Tim Salanger and Officer Fred Antinarella have been selected as our October 2023 Employees of the Month! Congratulations on a job well done! To read about their accomplishments, please visit our Employee of the Month webpage.
CSEMS Awards: The CSEMS Awards serves as opportunity to honor the impactful work of our entire unit from throughout the past year. An awards committee composed of CSEMS employees, with representation from all units, begins planning the awards during the summer months. The 2023 CSEMS Awards was held on Oct. 26. To learn more about the 2023 honorees, please see CSEMS Awards webpage.
Monthly Bias Update
Dec. 5: Antisemitic language written was discovered by a student in a book borrowed from Bird Library.
Update: Following a prompt review by DPS and library staff, it was determined that prior to the recent check out, the book had not been checked out since 2010. Based on this and the worn nature of the writing, it is likely the book has contained this content for over a decade, but went undiscovered. Bird Library staff has sent the book to have the page containing the language removed and repaired.
As a reminder, if we do have additional updates they will be posted on the chart on our website and share any developments in this monthly email.
It is never too late to come forward with information on any bias incident or crime. You can call DPS at 315.443.2224 or submit information anonymously via the Silent Witness tool. In addition, to report a bias incident or to receive support, visit the STOP Bias website.
Go Orange!
Chief Craig A. Stone
Department of Public Safety
Student Experience Division