Public Safety responded faster to the Women's Initiative's Blue Light tests this fall than it did last spring, Women's Initiative Director Sarah Mashburn announced to the General Assembly Sunday.
All of Public Safety's response times were under two minutes in tests conducted Nov. 19 and Nov. 30. In tests last spring, Public Safety took up to eight minutes to appear on the scene.
"I think after both the [Blue Light testing] walks, it's clear that Public Safety is making a commitment to make our campus safer, and they evaluated the results from last year so they could respond better," Mashburn said.
Response time was longest at two minutes at the red phone in Mary Graydon Center. The shortest response time was 55 seconds at the Blue Light in the Woods-Brown Amphitheatre.
The Blue Lights are located around campus for students to press if they are in danger so that Public Safety will respond.
During the tests last spring, the Women's Initiative discovered at least one broken Blue Light and response times up to eight minutes. Public Safety didn't respond at all after 15 minutes to one of its tests, said junior Carlos Ramirez, who participated in the Blue Light testing as chair of the General Assembly's Committee on Student Life.
Ramirez said he is glad to see decreased response times.
"[Public Safety] respond[s] faster and in more numbers and they're making headway, so I'm very satisfied," he said.
Mashburn said she was glad Public Safety welcomed Blue Light testing.
"I found the staff to be very courteous, very compliant and very willing to work with us," she said. "They're really supportive of this. They think it's a good move to make sure they're on top of their game."
Mashburn credits Mike McNair, director of Public Safety, with the improvement in response time.
"I think that one of Chief McNair's objectives is to make Public Safety more efficient, and the response time change is a tangible result of him meeting this objective," she said.
McNair became director of Public Safety last March. Since he joined AU, he has been a proponent of two new safety programs this semester: the Public Safety Aide Unit and the Public Safety Student Advisory Group, The Eagle previously reported.
The aide unit is a group of students employed by Public Safety to help with routine patrol and other basic duties. The advisory group includes representatives from campus organizations that meet monthly to discuss campus security issues.
