BY DANA JENNINGS
Lions’ Pride Staff Writer

At Saint Leo University, safety is something that most students take for granted and believe is inherent at such a close-knit campus. Recent events that are still being investigated at the time of this article’s writing show that the Saint Leo community is not removed from danger and violence.
Students cannot be overly cautious, as the campus is only 35 miles from downtown Tampa, which is a metropolis that has a melting pot of cultures and comes with the requisite crimes attributed to big cities.

Robert Sullivan, Executive Director for Campus Safety at Saint Leo University, said that, “We are concerned for the safety of the students.” But he added, “The response was phenomenal. The communication between student witnesses, security and the Pasco County Pasco County Sheriffs Office was great. To have the suspects in custody an hour and a half later is rare.”

The school wasn’t locked down, but if the threat had remained on campus, it would have been.

ConnectEd is the mass notification that Saint Leo University uses to notify the students of a threat on campus, with messages interrupting the TVs across campus, even laptops being interrupted with the message and students will receive text messages informing them of the situation and possibly a description of the vehicle or suspicious persons.

When parents and students have expressed concern regarding the dissemination of information and lack of implementing the lockdown procedure, Sullivan responded by saying, “What is most important is the safety of the students. We had visually verified with certainty that the threat had left campus, and with the Pasco County Sheriffs Office we placed a perimeter to ensure that it did not return. At that point we had gathering statements from witnesses and the victim and keeping the threat off-campus as a concern.”

Even with this, the Public Relations Office of Saint Leo University put a press release out through emails to students, parents, and alumni approximately 20 minutes after the initial report.

Sullivan had two security officers sight the vehicle leaving residence halls and he personally visually spotted the vehicle and passenger exiting campus, allowing him to get the license tag number and a suspect description. The Pasco County Sheriffs Office was on scene in two and a half minutes.

It is always important for students to take certain steps to make themselves safer, and at college is no different than anywhere else. This recent incident occurred at 2:01P.M., in broad daylight and with all eyes upon it. Not all crimes are so straightforward. Some students come and go with little regard to who is around them, often at all hours of the night, either after long study hours or a gathering at a friend’s room. These are times where vigilance is difficult and tiresome, but in the end it pays off. Students should be watchful and careful, but it seems that the incident was handled quickly and effectively. If students see anything suspicious, they are advised to inform campus safety at (352) 588-8432 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (352) 588-8432      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (352) 588-8432      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Sullivan said that recently installed surveillance cameras were vital in recording the vehicle from its leaving the residence hall parking lot all the way until its departure from the main campus exit. Along with these new cameras, Sullivan stated that he wants to add on to the already thorough ConnectEd system, by installing an audio alert siren that would be audible from all corners of the campus, and would signify a threat and inform students to take refuge.