Stevenson MD November 4 2018

Stevenson University’s Campus Security works day and night to protect students and are committed to providing a safe environment for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

According to Steve Gossage, supervisor of Campus Security, the staff includes active and retired police officers and firefighters from the city of Baltimore and Baltimore county.

Under the direction of Greg Cullison, director of security, the security staff monitors and patrols the Owings Mills and Owings Mills North sites 24 hours a day, and the Greenspring campus until 11 p.m. Campus security has played a critical role in ensuring that all locations on campus are safe and secure. The goal of campus security is to provide a protected environment for the Stevenson community.

“We monitor a barrage of cameras and every time a student swipes his or her student identification card, their name comes up in a computer in the office no matter where they are,” said Gossage. They try to keep a good eye on all of the cameras recording movements on campus at all times, no matter what is happening.

Stevenson’s Owings Mills campus has a total of four gates, three of which close at 8 p.m. and reopen at 4 a.m.

The gates at Owings Mills campus closes at 8 p.m., and students need to scan their student ID to gain entrance to the campus. (Photo by Wornden Ly)

“The gates have been established since opening day; they close at 8 p.m. because that’s the time when we can start regulating traffic that comes into campus,” said Gossage.

8 p.m. is when most students are done with classes, so Stevenson’s security staff wants to know who is coming into campus and who is leaving. The gates are monitored closely for the safety of the students, and Gausage noted that the back gates, behind Wooded Way, remain closed so that campus visitors cannot bring a car onto campus unnoticed.

Campus security has the resources to help students with mechanical situations as well, whether it’s getting an automobile towed or fixed right in the parking lot.

Security staff members are required to attend CPR and first aid classes, said Gausage, and are trained in dealing with opioid overdoses.

“The entire staff, including me, has been trained in Narcan,” said Gossage. Narcan (Naloxone) is a nasal injection used to block the effects of opioids, especially in overdose, according to the Narcan website.

The Campus Security Office also produced a three-minute informational video for students, faculty and staff that focuses on the “Avoid. Deny. Defend.” protocols recommended by American law enforcement agencies in the event of an active shooter situation.

According to an article from April 2017, Stevenson was named the “Safest College in Maryland” by the Security Center, an arm of ADT Services.  The award was determined by compiling the total of the crimes reported by the schools, which were then divided into three main sections: violent crime, property crime, and violence against women. The crimes were weighed by their severity and then the school’s crime score was divided by enrollment to calculate total per-capita crime, according to the article.

To get in contact with the campus security staff, students, faculty and staff can call 443-352-4500 24 hours a day.

The Villager

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