The college is moving to improve students safety on campus, after announcing a $150,000 grant “geared toward supporting underrepresented populations at Allegheny” in its press release on August 12.
This grant, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Nonprofit Security Grant Program, gives funding to numerous organizations that could be targets for hate crimes. Out of 90 nonprofit organizations receiving funding from the program, Allegheny is the only college to receive the grant.
Grant Project Director James Basinger, director of Allegheny College’s Department of Public Safety, felt that the program was a perfect fit for the school.
“We recruit a very diverse student population as well as faculty and staff,” Basinger said.
According to the campus admissions site, the typical first-year class profile alone states that 26% of incoming freshmen belong to a minority group.
Basinger also stated in the press release that the department of Public Safety regularly looks for grants and opportunities to improve the security of campus.
With this particular grant from the PCCD, the grant money will be used to install more security cameras and door access units across campus, with the main focus on places of worship. During the summer, additional security cameras were installed outside of the Jewish Community Center, located at the corner of Park Avenue and Allegheny Street, and the Prayer and Meditation House. A new security door was also installed at Ford Chapel.
With the grant funding being put toward new safety features on campus, the hope is to improve on a secure environment for all students. While security cameras and all access doors do not prevent all crimes, safety cameras alone have been shown to be a crime deterrent.
A New York Times article on security camera systems cites a study led by a team of researchers at City University of New York, Northeastern University and Cambridge University of a 40-year systemic review of the effects of closed-circuit television networks on crime trends in countries like Britain and South Korea, where such systems are prevalent. The study also concluded that cameras were a more effective deterrent for burglaries and theft than they were for violent crimes.
Basinger believes the new safety additions, particularly the security cameras, are a much needed feature on campus. When he first arrived in 2020, there were only nine cameras in one parking lot, said Basinger. After recommendations from a security consultant who was brought onto campus, the decision was made to amp up security everywhere.
Basinger said campus officials were initially worried there would be an uprising from students unhappy with the installation of cameras out of fear of invasion of privacy. However, Public Safety is very cautious with the placement of cameras, for instance facing away from residence halls as to only monitor the entrances and not inside of them, said Basinger.
The cameras are also passively monitored, Basinger said, with most camera footage being closely reviewed as to easily aid in solving incident reports regarding events such as theft or hit and runs.
“We’ve gone full circle from students saying, ‘We don’t want cameras,’ to, at times, asking ‘Why aren’t there cameras there?’” he said.
The main goal overall is to create a campus where students feel safe with all the resources and security features at hand. News of the grant comes almost a year after the Light Walk hosted by Allegheny Student Government and the Department of Public Safety with the goal of talking safety and identifying areas of the college campus that needed to improve lighting and visibility at night. The walk itself took place one month after a Sept. 21 sexual assault, which was reported to the Meadville Police Department as having taken place in a residential building on campus.
Campus officials are continuing to take steps to ensure the additional safety features make for a secure and safe living environment on campus for all students.