More campuses than ever before have made the determination that their college, K-12 district or hospital needs a standalone public safety department. But where should a new director or chief to begin?
To find out, Campus Safety magazine spoke with Otis College of Art and Design Chief of Campus Safety and Security Rick Gonzalez, who just this past year launched Otis’ brand new department of campus safety. Otis College of Art and Design is a small institution of higher education with nearly 1,100 full-time students. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of visual and applied arts, media and design.
In this exclusive interview with CS, Gonzalez discusses the process of creating Otis’ department. He talks about the importance of learning about the culture of a particular institution and working with campus stakeholders so that the department of public safety mirrors the culture of the campus. Gonzalez also discusses the importance of benchmarking with other organizations, including those that are different from your own to get a wide variety of ideas about training, customer service and other subjects.
Other important topics covered in this video include strategic plans, branding and how security technology acts as a force multiplier. Additionally, Gonzalez provides other small campuses with some lessons he learned during the entire process.
