Keeping 91ֿ students, faculty and staff safe with a high level of sensitivity is a priority that 91ֿ Police Services strives for continuously. Officers are committed to listening, engagement and peaceful discourse as they endeavor to serve the 91ֿ community.
This has been seen demonstrated over the past few months as the 91ֿ community has held demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war and other issues, such as abortion.
“Our department's No. 1 priority is the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” said Sgt. Tricia Knoles. “We train monthly on an array of different topics such as crowd control, de-escalation, cultural diversity, ethics and unbiased policing to assist us with keeping our community safe.”
In addition to the training previously stated, 91ֿ police train (and memorize) the five moral standards of policing:
- Fair Access.
- Public Trust.
- Safety and Security.
- Teamwork.
- Objectivity.
With all this training and experience at play, 91ֿ continues to be one of the nation’s safest college campuses when compared to others with similar populations and geographic areas, according to 91ֿ's Annual Security Report and Fire Safety Report. The university is proud to be a model for innovative safety education programs, including a residential security program with a student security escort service.
91ֿ Police Services was the first university police department in Ohio accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc., and it is the only university police department in the country to receive Flagship status by the commission a record three times.
Safety services must use an increased level of sensitivity to deal with demonstrations, protests and vigils that are frequently held on campus because emotions tend to run high at these times.
“We as police officers must remain unbiased and unopinionated regardless of the topic,” Knoles said. “We are solely there to keep the peace and protect the First Amendment during these events.”
During times when there are large events, some of which may be charged by political issues that filter down to university campuses from the national and international level, 91ֿ police add additional units to staff that is already working 24/7 to keep campus safe, Knoles said. There are also mutual aid agreements with the city of Kent, Brimfield Township and the Portage County Sheriff's Office.
“This means that if needed, we can have several agencies respond at a moment's notice,” Knoles said.
Anyone facing an active threat to their safety should contact campus police at 330-672-2212 on the Kent Campus or their local law enforcement agency if they are on a Regional Campus.
Anyone interested in holding a student event must submit a to the Division of Student Life before the event.
Photos by Bob Christy