Office of Security Officially Renamed to the Office of Public Safety
The Name Change More Accurately Represents the Wide-Ranging Duties of Campus Public Safety Officers and the Services They Provide
New York Medical College’s (NYMC) Office of Security has announced its name change to the Office of Public Safety to more accurately reflect the broad range of services the Office provides to the College campus, according to Robert Lancia, M.A, director of the Office of Public Safety. While professionalism will continue to remain paramount to support the NYMC mission, along with the name change, there will be new uniforms and vehicles.
Mr. Lancia emphasized the multi-faceted responsibilities of the 20 NYMC public safety officers who are trained in a variety of safety and investigative measures and how the previous name didn’t embody their role on campus. “[Officers] are more than just guards who sit at a desk.” Mr. Lancia said. “Office of Public Safety does more than just keep things ‘secure,’ and I felt it was important enough to warrant a name change to be more inclusive.”
NYMC’s public safety officers are all certified in CPR as well as in automated external defibrillator (AED) usage, provide 24-hour surveillance of more than 200 campus cameras and regularly patrol the campus. The officers also monitor campus fire alarms and fire drills and are called in for crisis management and conflict resolution. “The name public safety is simply more inclusive of what our officers to do on campus,” Mr. Lancia said.
The Office of Public Safety will also soon re-commence operating the campus shuttle for students, faculty, staff and students and will operate on a route circling throughout campus. Identification cards, ones that are used to gain access to campus buildings, will be required as a shuttle pass. The shuttle, driven by a public safety officer, also doubles as campus patrol throughout its campus route.
Mr. Lancia hopes the name change will encourage the NYMC community to reach out to public safety when they are in need of assistance, whether it be for identification badges, parking permits, or to report suspicious activity.
“If something doesn’t seem right, we encourage you to contact us and we will look into it,” Mr. Lancia said. “If we can’t help you, we will direct you to who can.”
Mr. Lancia reminds the NYMC community to be aware of their surroundings on campus, know the locations of the more than 20 blue-light emergency phones throughout the campus and be familiar with the safety information on the public safety website. Public safety information is also available on the NYMC mobile app.
