Auraria: How safe are we?
by Boyd Fletcher
The Metropolitan
Danny Holland / The Metropolitan
Metro student Sassana Cassa waits with Officer Skeen on the steps of the
Tivoli for her ride home Nov. 2. Skeen is one of 20 Auraria police officers.
During the week, there are six to nine officers on duty on campus,
with slightly fewer during the weekend.
Along
with the war in Iraq, health care and the economy, national safety and
homeland security were some of the most debated topics of this election.
Places with a high concentration of people, such as airports, train stations,
sporting arenas and college campuses have undergone security advancements
since 9/11.
According to a report issued by the Urban Areas Security Initiatives,
Denver’s ranking on the list of cities at risk of terrorist activity
has dropped from ninth in 2003 to 39th, with New York City and Washington
D.C. topping the list. Denver is a large metropolitan area with an international
airport, but Denver is landlocked, not a port city like the top 12 cities
on the list, thus lowering its ranking.
Regardless, Denver businesses and residents continue to be concerned
with local security and safety.
Approximately 110,000 people work in downtown Denver, the largest business
center in the Rocky Mountain region, according to the Downtown Denver
Partnership’s 2004 second-quarter review.
The Auraria campus is the largest business in downtown Denver, and the
largest campus in terms of population in Colorado. The roughly 36,000
students and 6,000 faculty and staff members equal about 33 percent of
the downtown workforce.
Auraria Campus Police Chief Heather Coogan said providing security for
the roughly 42,000 people on the commuter campus poses many problems other
schools do not face.
The Auraria Campus Police Department has 20 police officers, with between
six and nine officers on duty daily during the week, and slightly fewer
during the weekend.
“Security on this campus has always been high,” Coogan said.
“We operate in an urban environment that has always had a very high
crime potential.”
Coogan said the rail yard to the west, nearby housing projects and the
24-hour flow of people on Colfax have always been concerns.
The Auraria Campus Police have received terrorism awareness training
and are expecting personal protection suits from the Department of Homeland
Security. The suits are for the police, who, in an emergency, would be
part of the first response teams, Coogan said.
According to Coogan, Auraria campus police have to deal not only with
the student population but also with people who use the campus as parking
for downtown events.
One of the most important ways Coogan said this campus is made safer
is by stressing “customer service” between the officers and
the people they are protecting. Patrol cars are often parked and left
in highly visible areas while officers patrol surrounding areas and buildings,
not only to provide a physical presence, but also to create a feeling
of safety on campus.
The urban environment in which the Auraria campus is located dictates
a different approach to security than other Colorado schools.
Officer Yvonne Paez of the Colorado State University Police said that
since 9/11 the police at CSU, a school with more than 25,000 students,
have undergone specialized training to better help them assess threats
and to prepare them in case any catastrophic events happen on campus.
Paez said her department, which has 27 sworn officers with between five
and seven officers on duty at any time, is constantly working with other
local law enforcement agencies, Federal Protective Services, the FBI and
the DHS to ensure the safety of the community.
“I think that CSU is a very safe campus, but only through our efforts
as a community to keep each other safe,” Paez said. “As
soon as we rest on our laurels thinking we have it all figured out, that
is when we are most vulnerable.”
The University of Colorado at Boulder has more than 28,000 students and
a police force of 42 officers with as many as nine on duty at a time,
according to Lt. Tim McGraw of the University of Colorado Police Department.
McGraw said crime is an issue they take seriously as a police force and
as a school, but the department does not discuss details regarding measures
taken to prevent criminal activity.
McGraw said community involvement is one of the most important steps
to keeping the school safe.
“Thus far we have been a safe environment,” McGraw said.
“As for what the future holds, we obviously cannot tell. One of
the major factors involved in making our community safer is the continued
efforts of citizens in using the police as a resource.”
The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is not only a
college campus but also a functional military instillation, which received
the best-prepared instillation award from the Department of Homeland Security
in 2003.
According to Meade Warthen, chief of media relations for the Air force
Academy, the school restricted access after 9/11 on the campus of 4,000
to students, faculty and military personnel, but re-opened the campus
to visitors in September 2003 when new procedures could be instituted.
Currently, people may visit the campus by entering the north entrance.
They may be un-escorted as long as they stay within certain areas and
are allowed in other areas of the campus with an academy employee or cadet
escort.
“We are confident that we have taken all appropriate measures to
protect this instillation,” Warthen said.
Student awareness, and communication with the police are two things that
the departments stressed on all four campuses. All four schools police
departments rely on the student population to feel comfortable reporting
suspicious activity when they see it, and to not feel intimidated by officers
and the security measures the school takes.
“It’s very important they see us as friends, as someone they
can depend on,” Coogan said.
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