Campus Safety
The Department of Public Safety is pleased to offer the following services to members of the Harding Community:
- Assisting in unlocking your vehicle (or getting a locksmith) when you have locked your keys inside.
- Assisting in jump starting your vehicle when it won’t start.
- Providing courtesy escorts to students, staff and faculty on campus or back to campus during night time hours.
- Providing medical transport and emergency first aid.
- Campus patrols 24-hours a day, every day of the year.
- Emergency phones for immediate assistance in emergency situations.
- 24-hour video surveillance in select areas.
Campus Safety Features
Emergency Call Boxes
Yellow emergency call boxes have been placed in strategic locations on campus. I
f there is criminal activity or a physical emergency, a person should press the red button on the box and report the problem to the Public Safety dispatcher. There is a direct line from each call box to the Public Safety Office. Officers are immediately dispatched to the locations of all emergency call box calls regardless of the call.
C.A.S.E.
The Courtesy And Safety Escort (C.A.S.E.) Program was created originally to provide safe transportation for women to and from their dorms. The program was so successful that it was expanded to include the entire student body. The first year resulted in over 14,000 rides! Each evening, two golf carts are available to provide rides anywhere on campus. The drivers are trained members of the Public Safety Office and are equipped with the same radios as officers. The drivers, not only provide rides, but also are trained to report any emergencies or criminal activity.
All students must be in the residence halls or University apartments at the curfew hour set by the administration and Board of Trustees. Any student needing to be out later than the set curfew must receive late permission from the appropriate personnel. Off-campus students are not permitted on campus after curfew unless they have permission from a school official.
Lighting
Major steps have been taken to increase night time visibility on campus. All areas of campus are now well lit. Parking lots are constantly monitored to ensure all lights are working properly and there is sufficient lighting in each parking lot. All concerns regarding lighting are seriously considered and addressed.
Access to Residence Halls
Every residence hall has a live-in manager and several resident assistants. Women's residence halls have a monitor on duty from 9:45 a.m. until midnight weekdays and from 7 a.m. until midnight on weekends. The men's residence halls have a monitor on duty during the evening hours. Members of the opposite sex are not allowed in any of the living areas of the residence halls or apartments at any time. Students are allowed in the residence hall lobbies of the opposite gender from noon until curfew. Regardless of gender, all visitors, repair persons, vendors, etc. must sign in at the front desk with the desk monitor or the resident manager before entering the living areas and must sign out at the front desk when leaving the living areas.
Courtesy Escorts
Students, staff and faculty may call the Public Safety Office for an escort from anywhere on campus to any other location on campus after dark. Students working off campus may also request escorts back to campus after dark if they make special arrangements.
Video Surveillance
There are several areas on campus that are monitored and/or recorded by video surveillance 24-hours a day by the Department of Public Safety. The video surveillance operates as a deterrent to crime in many areas of campus. Cameras are both overtly and covertly placed in strategic locations.
Security Patrols
Public Safety Officers patrol campus 24-hours a day, every day of the year to protect our students, employees and property here at Harding.