Chief’s Corner
“Protecting, serving and educating America’s future”
June 25, 2008
Welcome to StocktonCollege! We hope you enjoy your visit here or if you are a new student we wish you the best while you are here. We would like to introduce the police department to you. We are here 24/7 to assist in any way possible, including an escort, helping you to get into your locked car, or just answering a question you may have. Also, let me introduce new members of our community to the “Chief’s Corner.” This is an article written every week for the ARGO and includes important community safety updates and other safety issues that are relevant to our community. So look for it each week the ARGO is published. As with any service the police department provides, if a member of our community has an idea to improve that service, please let us know. We are here to support your educational goal.
We hope you are enjoying your summer and we remind everyone of some basic personal safety tips such as: buckle up when in a vehicle; lock your doors behind you; be aware of your surroundings at all times; don’t drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs or get into a vehicle with an intoxicated driver; swim near a lifeguard; walk or jog in well lit areas; use sun block when in the sun for any length of time; use good common sense when dealing with strangers; and most of all enjoy yourself but please be careful as we look forward to seeing all of you back here in September.
We welcome all our new students and their families to the Stockton community. Over the summer we have a couple of weeks of freshman and transfer student orientations. At that time the family and students get a chance to see our beautiful campus and learn about our community. You will see a lot of construction on campus, most notably, the construction of a CampusCenter. The CampusCenter will be a 150,000 square foot building that will help provide our students with a location to congregate and obtain most of the services they will need on campus. It is a several year project and we ask our community to work with us to ensure it is completed safely.
I would like to introduce the police department to our new students. We are a full time, 24/7,police department with all our officers certified by the New Jersey Police Training Commission. We are the only New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police accredited campus police agency in this state. We have a full time certified 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center which services our entire community. We work very closely with our surrounding municipal police agencies, State Police and federal authorities to provide the many services our community needs. Our goal is to see that you have a safe and secure environment in which you will receive the quality education available at this great institution. We patrol the campus 24/7 in marked police vehicles, unmarked police vehicles, on bicycles and on foot. There are over 40 yellow emergency phones located throughout the campus for use in any emergency situation. We are one the safest campuses in the State of New Jersey because of the partnerships we have developed and the commitment of our community in ensuring their safety.
We have many programs available to students that will assist them while at Stockton and ask you to visit our web site at to learn more about our department. Under our web site you will find the “Clery Act Information” page which will provide you with all the information you will need about our department, college policies and the crime statistics that are reported each year. Our resident students need to be aware of the residential parking regulations, including registering your vehicle with Housing and obtaining a residential parking permit which must be displayed on the outside of the driver’s side rear window. Also, any guests of residential students must be registered with Housing if they are remaining in a residential area after 10pm. Please refer to the Student Handbook that is given to all students for further details on campus rules and regulations.
We have an “all hazards” emergency operating plan that is tested several times a year to help ensure the community’s safety and our response to any critical situation. We have developed an Emergency Procedures Guide that is posted in every class room. Additionally, that guide is available on our web site if your want your own copy. Our emergency communications plans for the campus have recently been enhanced by the purchase of an emergency communications text messaging system that is available to all our community at no cost. The system is only used for emergencies and up to three numbers can be added by each student to this system. So please ensure you sign up for the system as it is an “opt-in” option. Visit the Dean of Students web site for additional information on how to register for this text messaging system.
We look forward to working with each of you while you’re at Stockton and ask that you remember a community’s safety is the responsibility of the community and will only be as safe as that community’s commitment to its safety. We continue to ask for your assistance as safety is everyone’s business. So please report any safety or security concern to us at X4390 or dial 9-1-1 in an emergency.