Parents
Parent newsletter
Past Articles
“Enforcers?” Not on this campus!
By Michael O’Brien,
director of community safety
As parents you know how important communication is with your children. We at Reed’s community safety office also know the value of communication. Once the shock to new students wears off and they find that the community safety officers (CSOs) are really here to keep them safe and not police their actions, all sorts of lines of communication are opened. We let them know how heavily this community relies on the honor principle for policing itself and how this frees us up to work on safety and security.
We work with student reporters who write articles for the Quest (the student newspaper) about incidents on campus the previous week. Students can also read Quest articles by the community safety director taken from community safety bulletins or our famous Mama Dispatcher articles, which instruct, nag, and inform.
Big issues on campus such as the planned installation of a new one-card security system for the dorms or the planning of our campus Renn Fayre celebration always provoke spirited debates between students and community safety personnel working on these committees. The trust expressed by everyone through the candid nature of these conversations is obvious and outstanding.
This campus is unique in that the CSOs are first and foremost friends and helpers to the students, not “enforcers.” CSOs can find themselves in conversation with the students at all times during their shifts. The student may just want to talk about what is the best way to keep their bikes locked or how to handle a fellow student whose behavior bothers them. Or they are just lonely and know that they can talk to their friend, the CSO, without being judged. Sometimes the conversations get quite interesting, like when we talked about whether the United States flag should really be flown at Reed or not.
The open door policy is a reality in the community safety office. We are a 24/7 operation, and students drop by not only to get their special gifts from home, but also to chat with their favorite CSO or dispatcher on duty—or to negotiate their way out of a parking ticket. Whatever the reason, they are here often and always most welcome.
