Organization

The Operations unit of the Department of Public Safety is sub-divided into two divisions: Patrol and Communications.

Patrol handles all emergency calls and crimes in progress, and investigates all non-violent property crimes that occur on the LMU campus. Officers receive training in criminal law, patrol procedures, use of force, investigations, report writing, first aid, CPR, and the use of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs). Consistent in-service training ensures that officers remain capable and up-to-date on their skills.

Communications handles all calls, emergency and non-emergency, to Public Safety Dispatch and the university-networked Security Systems on campus.

Deployment

Public Safety officers are staffed 24/7. Methods of patrol include marked vehicles, bicycles, T-3s and walking units. Emphasis is placed on safety and crime prevention, through the use of highly visible uniformed officers who patrol campus roadways and conduct frequent walkthroughs of campus buildings and parking lots.

Response Times

The safety of LMU students, faculty, staff, and guests is the utmost priority. Response times for routine calls can vary dependent on campus emergencies, university activity, and general call volume.

Dispatch

Public Safety maintains multiple dispatchers at any given time, providing 24/7 coverage. The primary objective of Dispatch is to ensure rapid and effective emergency and non-emergency communications for the university, including answering calls and managing communications via the university radio systems. Dispatchers also monitor and provide forensic support to the Video Management System, and monitor duress alarms, intrusion, and access control.

Operator

The role of the University Operator is to provide high-level customer phone support, to better resolve requests for general campus information. The Operator processes incoming calls for all university departments and parties.

The Department of Public Safety has a dedicated Investigations staff, who are responsible for conducting investigations and follow-up activities into criminal incidents and policy violations occurring on university property. Public Safety investigators work cooperatively with detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The Department of Public Safety's Security Technology unit oversees the implementation and monitoring of all access control, systems and alarms, surveillance, physical security and support services on university property. All information is recorded into a central repository and available for review in conducting investigations or forensic study.

Public Safety cares deeply about the information security of the LMU community. As such, the Security Systems unit works continuously to ensure that all security features are encrypted with maximum protection.