May 16, 2023

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Over the past three years, with engagement from all constituencies, the College has revisited the important and complex question of campus safety, seeking to understand and respond to the range of safety needs and diversity of experiences within our community. Working collectively, we have sought to create a campus safety model that situates safety in the broader context of wellness, connection, belonging, trust, and equity. 

One year ago, the Campus Safety Advisory Committee (CSAC) was formed to review and implement recommendations that emerged from the prior two years of community discussions. Chaired by Angie Tissi-Gassoway, initially in her equity and inclusion leadership role and now as Chief Student Affairs Officer and Dean of Students, CSAC includes student, staff, and faculty representatives, including representatives from the Community Safety Assistant (CSA) team and leadership from the Amherst College Police Department (ACPD), Center for Counseling and Mental Health (CCMH), and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI).

During its first year, the committee has rigorously considered the most responsive and effective means to achieve the proposed goals, and developed and implemented new systems to deliver better services to our community. Highlights of the committee’s work this year include:

  • Reallocation of ACPD Responsibilities: After a careful review of ACPD’s portfolio of responsibilities, some were reallocated to Community Service Officers (CSOs), CSAs, and on-call Student Affairs administrators, working in partnership with CCMH staff and the student-run Amherst College Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS) team. In some instances, roles have been expanded and restructured for greater collaboration and efficiency. 

Examples include:

  • Responding to lockouts (CSAs and CSOs)

  • Facilitating student key pickups (CSAs)

  • Responding to noise complaints (CSAs and CSOs)

  • Managing student-hosted events and parties, including checking in with hosts prior to the event and monitoring compliance with event parameters (CSAs)

  • Responding to non-acute mental health and medical needs (CCMH, ACEMS, CSAs, Student Affairs on-call administrators, CSOs)

  • Providing Safe Rides and Walks for the community at night (CSOs)

Situations where ACPD remains responsible include:

  • Responding to and investigating incidents that require a sworn police officer

  • Responding to fire and intrusion alarms

  • Responding to serious medical needs (in collaboration with ACEMS and CSAs)

  • Responding to acute mental health issues (in conjunction with CCHM, CSAs, and Student Affairs on-call administrators)

  • Starting this summer, ACPD officers will once again be welcome to join the campus community for meals in Val, in recognition that ACPD is an integral part of the community and Val is an ideal environment to build relationships.

  • It remains the case that ACPD will only be present in the residence halls when dispatched.

  • An online feedback form has been created to convey feedback and campus safety concerns to the members of CSAC. The form covers concerns related to campus safety itself and campus safety-related staffing or administrative issues. (Please note this form is not the place to report an emergency or a crime. For those issues, please call ACPD's emergency phone number: 413-542-2111.)

  • AppArmor will go live in July. This app includes an emergency panic button and allows a user to text reports to AC Dispatch or invite a friend to virtually follow them to their destination. (More information will be shared when the app launches.)

  • We have had productive and educational discussions with the Town of Amherst’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety & Service (CRESS) team. CRESS is the civilian, unarmed public safety response team that provides community safety services in the Town of Amherst in situations that don’t involve violence or serious crime. Because our community members spend time in town, coordination with CRESS is very helpful.

  • ACPD cars were re-marked at the start of fall 2022 after extensive conversation and a unanimous recommendation by CSAC members.

  • An evening lighting tour of campus with students, staff, and faculty identified areas where lighting needs improvement for safety purposes. Our Planning, Design, and Construction team will work with Campus Operations, Facilities, Student Affairs, and Campus Safety to schedule needed improvements. In some instances, this will be a quick fix; larger projects will take longer to complete.

  • CSAC has begun collecting and assessing data on Safe R-I-D-E Service usage, and discussing possible routes for safe walking services.

We are tremendously grateful to CSAC’s members for their contributions to this effort over the past year—and to all who have participated in the conversations about what makes a truly safe community. CSAC will resume work next fall; we welcome your continued participation as we strive to be a campus that is broadly resilient, secure, and inclusive. 

Sincerely,

Michael A. Elliott
President

Angie Tissi-Gassoway
Chief Student Affairs Officer and Dean of Students; CSAC Chair

John Carter
Executive Director of Safety and Chief of Police