GREENSBORO, NC -- The majority of parents worry about their child's safety when they head off to college. But we wanted to give parents and students a chance to ask any campus safety questions to local college chiefs as part of Ask the Chief: College Edition!
First up, UNC Greensboro Police Chief James Herring joined Tracey McCain to talk about campus issues, safety and to answer viewer questions!
First we asked about how and when his department works with Greensboro Police, considering the university is right in the middle of the city. Chief Herring said they're a full service police department and respond to any types of police calls that come in.
While you might think underage drinking may be one of the largest issues university police face, Chief Herring also said the largest issue his department deals with on campus is larceny. He said when you have a lot of people with a lot of stuff in a small space, there will be people who make a living stealing that nice stuff. So UNCG police try to make sure students and parents understand they're responsible to lock up and track their belongings.
So safety on campus is going to be a big parent concern and this year, UNCG has partnered with Live Safe for a new safety app. Chief Herring said its a great app you can put on your mobile device that lets students contact the police via chat. They can provide pictures or video and have a text conversation with dispatchers if they don't want to call. The walk home feature even lets friends or police watch them walk back on an interactive map as they walk on campus. Its free for students faculty, staff, and even teachers to download either in iTunes or Google Play.
Chief Herring also answered questions viewers posed on Facebook and Twitter.
Eric Lomax asked, how do you plan to protect your students being off campus. Chief Herring said the whole department is in one place on campus for the first time in 30 years -- across from the student rec center. And Chief Herring said they typically have 4-6 officers on patrol at any time out and about on campus.
There were also a few questions Chief Herring didn't have a chance to answer on air. He answered them in a web extra and they'll be posted here soon!
Devin King asked: "Can you sponsor a joint membership with UNCG... to offer fast track unarmend armed security officer...ppsb training class"
Chief Herring answered here:
Chief Herring also talked about how the mission of university policing is different than municipal policing.
During the segment, Chief Herring talked about how the LiveSafe app should help in their policing. Here he talks about the role the blue safety lights will now play on campus.
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