The SGA safety committee held their first meeting on March 5 to address concerns with UCCS police liaison, discuss safety measures on campus and vote on leadership.
The committee was established on Jan. 29. According to SGA Vice President Isabella Polombo, the committee serves to advocate for students, increase student engagement in campus safety, implement safety measures and address maintenance, building safety, accessibility and disability concerns.
“If it’s a culture that needs to be changed, then we should develop a committee that actually addresses the structure behind it,” Polombo said.
Bringing concerns to police liaison
UCCS Police Detective Corporal and Liaison Kaylee Marquez attended to hear the committee’s concerns, which included the lack of responses to online officer‑conduct complaint forms and emergency response times.
According to Polombo, these concerns were raised by students.
Marquez said she is not aware of complaint forms being ignored but will address command staff and ensure submissions are reaching supervisors. According to Marquez, supervisors are supposed to review complaints and make first contact with the individual who filed within five business days.
“If a complaint isn’t being addressed, that’s something that obviously needs to change pretty quickly,” Marquez said.
The resolution timeline varies depending on interviews and evidence review, including body camera footage.
Officers typically arrive within one to three minutes when incidents are reported directly to campus dispatch. After the recent shooting on campus, Marquez said officers were on scene in roughly three minutes.
However, 911 calls are routed through CSPD dispatch, which can extend response.
Marquez said that community engagement is a priority for campus police. Officers are intentionally selected for their community‑policing approach, and the department tries to build trust by interacting with students at events, such as club fair and athletic events.
Safety measures on campus
Marquez and John Lauer, the senior director of residence life and housing, discussed recent safety measures on campus.
According to Marquez, UCCS has installed more than 250 cameras over the past two years, including inside and outside buildings and across most major 200-series parking lots.
Lauer has been involved in multiple safety‑related initiatives, including camera expansion, courtesy phones for students with dead cell batteries, door access and updating UCCS’ weapons policies.
Lauer proposed increasing direct outreach, including creating a short surveys for students to identify safety priorities and speaking with more students on campus.
“Right after our most recent shooting, a work group formed to look at student support, and we began asking the hard questions: Are listening sessions helpful? Would a survey make students feel heard?” Lauer said.
Leadership vote
SGA members Keison Morales, the senator of innovation, and Asher Early, the senator of sustainability, were appointed as chair and vice chair of the committee.
The other committee members are Logan Smith, a senator-at-large, Brian Vickers, senator of graduate students, Teri Kear, the senator of education, Olivia Abeyta, senator of clubs, organizations and Greek life, and Polombo.
This committee will meet weekly for the remainder of March to establish structure before possibly moving to biweekly meetings in April.
Graphic via The Scribe archive.