G4S is a temporary security team joining the Department of Campus Safety
A new security company joined the Department of Campus Safety (DCS) on Azusa Pacific’s campus this school year. The company, G4S, is a temporary addition to DCS while the department is in the process of filling position vacancies.
While G4S will officially be on campus this semester for the first time, the agreement to hire the company has been discussed previously for many years. G4S’s contracted agreement with APU will provide support personnel in times of need. DCS currently uses the company to maintain the workforce and amount of coverage, due to a shortage of staff.
“The G4S contract employees have been doing a wonderful service to help us ensure our community safety,” said DCS Executive Director Paul Dennis.
According to the G4S website, the company “specializes in integrated security solutions that mitigate risk and add value.” The G4S security employees will only be with APU temporarily.
Although they do not have the familiar DCS blue uniform, Dennis encourages students and staff to interact with and welcome the new officers just as they would with any other DCS employee.
“My goal is to create a safe learning environment for students, staff and faculty,” Dennis said. “That’s my priority and I’m going to do that however I can.”
Alexandria Ojeda, a senior communication studies major, said she feels safer with the extra security.
“I’ve seen them [G4S security] at Alosta and seen them walking around,” Ojeda said. “It’s comforting almost, to see them around. I like that they’re just checking everything out, especially when I leave campus at 8 o’clock at night.”
Dennis said he is confident in the school’s positioning and relations with the surrounding police departments in Azusa, Glendora and Covina.
“I’m leveraging those relationships so that when we need resources or things here to strengthen our safety, we have good access to them,” Dennis said.
Dennis said that as a department, DCS is constantly assessing APU’s safety, systems and practices while looking for the best ways to ensure the campus is safe from outside negative influences.
“Our priority is to keep students safe, but right in line with that is their success and we want to contribute to a positive college experience,” he said.
Even though incidents do not occur often, Dennis emphasized that “the number one key to safety is awareness.” Practices like looking down at your phone while walking, leaving your car unlocked and walking home alone at night are best to be avoided.
“We all play a role in our overall safety,” said Dennis. “So we all have to make a commitment to each other to do our part.”
According to Dennis, collectively, the community is what helps keep this space safe.
“I think it’s great,” Ojeda said. “There’s been a lot of things happening around campus and in our community, like with the jewelry store robbery that happened, and it helps people to feel safer.”
Dennis said that although DCS is informed and aware, letting the department know of any safety issue is the best action students can take, even if it seems they might already know of it.
If a student is in need of assistance or feels unsafe at any time, DCS services are available as a resource to provide an escort or respond to an emergency.