Campus Safety

Harding University students and employees should report any behavior that could be potentially dangerous or lead to a violent situation to any of the members of the University Threat Assessment and Behavioral Intervention team. For any immediate threat or emergency, call Public Safety at 501-279-5000.

See this document for a description of the Harding University Threat Assessment and Behavior Intervention Team pdf. 

Active Shooter Response

Active shooter incidents have become all too frequent. What was once unthinkable is now today’s reality. One of the primary focuses of armed officer training for Public Safety is active shooter mitigation and response. Officers train regularly to rapidly respond to and neutralize any active shooter threat. Public Safety officers work closely with the Searcy Police Department to ensure that campus remains a safe environment.

Active Shooter Preparedness Training

Active shooter preparedness training is offered periodically to the Harding community. This course informs participants how to be prepared should an active shooter situation occur on campus. The course is based on the Run.Hide.Fight© curriculum developed by the City of Houston in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. This course is only available to Harding University students, faculty and staff.

Visit our safety classes webpage to sign up for the course.

Automatic External Defibrillators can greatly improve a person's chance of survival in the case of a heart attack. A victim's chances of survival increases the sooner CPR is started and an AED is applied. The chart below identifies the location of each unit and a photo of the AED unit to assist in rapid access to the unit.

Campus AED Map

The Department of Public Safety can provide training for anyone interested in learning how to perform CPR and use the AED. Please sign up for a class or call the Office of Parking and Transportation at 501-279-4005 for more information.

Emergency call boxes have been placed in strategic locations on campus. If there is criminal activity or a physical emergency, press the CALL 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.

Students, faculty and staff 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.

CASE

The Courtesy And Safety Escort Program was originally created 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. More than 14,000 rides were given in just the first year! Each evening, two golf carts are available to provide rides anywhere on campus. The drivers are trained members of the Department of Public Safety 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.

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.

Every residence hall has a live-in residence hall coordinator and several resident assistants. All residence halls have a monitor on duty in the lobby from 11 a.m. until curfew (midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends). Members of the opposite sex are not allowed in any living areas at any time. Students of the opposite gender are allowed in residence hall lobbies from noon until curfew. Regardless of gender, all visitors, repair persons, vendors, etc. must sign in at the front desk with the monitor or the residence life coordinator before entering the living areas and must sign out at the front desk when leaving the living areas.

Each residence hall also incorporates the use of access control at the entrances to the building. Residents living in the building are granted access using their dtudent I.D. card at the times the lobby is not monitored.

Several areas on campus 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.

Public safety officers patrol campus 24 hours a day every day of the year to protect our students, employees and property.

See this document for a description of Harding victim rights pdf.

The Department of Public Safety utilizes patrol vehicles that are well-marked for easy identification and are equipped to handle a wide variety of situations. Each patrol vehicle contains a fully-equipped medical first responder bag, oxygen tank and Automatic External Defibrillator for medical emergencies. Officers are trained and certified in CPR at the health care provider level by the American Heart Association as well as being trained medical first responders. Each vehicle also contains tools to assist motorists with services such as jump-starts, flat tires and lockouts.

The department also has three gas-powered golf carts at their disposal. The golf carts are used in a patrol capacity as well as for safety escorts performed by the department on the campus grounds.

All officers are equipped with two-way radios. Armed officers are trained in defensive tactics as well as mace/pepper foam use and decontamination.