University of Southern Indiana campus adds 4 deputy sheriffs to beef up security
EVANSVILLE, Ind. Aug 23 2018 — Law enforcement presence on the University of Southern Indiana campus increased by four full-time sheriff’s deputies, last Wednesday, with a fifth to join later this year.
USI President Ronald Rochon announced a new partnership with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office during a press conference Tuesday morning on USI’s campus.
The USI Patrol Unit is a newly created unit within the Sheriff’s Office Operations Division. Deputies assigned to this unit will patrol campus full-time in addition to coverage already provided by USI’s Public Safety officers.
The five sheriff’s deputies assigned to USI, including three USI alums, are: Chad Gries; Gilbert Roberts, a ’99 graduate; Logan Osborne, ’14 graduate; Clint Stanton and Toby Wolfe, a ’98 graduate, who will start patrolling USI Oct. 1.
The deputies received training from both the sheriff’s office and USI.
The additional deputies will cost $450,000 annually, USI officials said, funded by the state.
USI Public Safety Director Steve Bequette said a key benefit to their full-time presence is faster response times.
“The top priority for this collaboration is the safety and well-being of the USI community,” Bequette said in a statement. “We have a strong track record of safety on this campus, but having these sworn deputies on duty full-time provides an extra layer of security to make our campus a safer place for everyone.”
Sheriff’s deputies are the primary law enforcement agency for USI. Their responsibilities are to investigate all alleged crimes that occur on campus including infractions, misdemeanors and felonies.
Before this partnership, Bequette said USI hired armed off-duty deputies to supplement work by USI’s Public Safety officers.
Duties for USI Public Safety officers include traffic control, security of physical assets, as well as safety of all employees, students and guests. All security staff are trained in first aid and other emergency procedures.
The new on-campus sheriff’s deputies will work closely with Public Safety to share information, requests and complaints in a timely manner, officials said.
Between students, faculty and staff, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding estimated about 10,000 people are on USI’s campus.
“Trained law enforcement professionals on campus will dramatically reduce our response time to emergency incidents and allow us to better protect the thousands of students who attend the campus on a daily basis,” he said in a statement.
Wedding said Rochon first approached him about enhancing campus security when he was still USI provost.
“This set in motion a collaboration between the university and the Sheriff’s Office which culminated this past Wednesday when the new USI Patrol Unit deputies radioed ‘in service’ for the first time,” Wedding said.
Courier and Press
