Public Saftey Office Relocates to Campus Periphery Harnest House New Home for Department Headquarters

Author: Daniel Phillips

In the bowels of the Carr Hall basement, the workers behind the desk at Campus Security barely noticed as the rain clouds finally cleared on Tuesday afternoon for their office was a flurry of stuffing boxes with files and envelopes bound for their new home in Harnest House, located between Emma Willard House and Hasselgrave House on South Main Street.

Lisa Boudah, director of Public Safety, described the department's former location in the basement of Carr Hall as an "unusual space to work in to begin with. We grew out of the way it was designed." Boudah noted that attaining adequate space without an overlap of offices was one of the primary goals of the move. "That is going to be really helpful," she added.

Loads of boxed-up files have already been moved into Public Safety's new accommodations in Harnest House, which has been recently renovated and "designed to meet the needs of the department by providing sufficient work space for personnel, updating the telecommunications center and incorporating all administrative offices in one building," explained Boudah in a community-wide e-mail sent on Tuesday. In her message, Boudah also asked that the College community be patient in their requests for non-emergency services, such as issuances of parking permits or identification cards, until Oct. 1, due to periodic interruptions in operations. "It is our intent that the move will not interrupt emergency services," asserted Boudah's message, which also included an attached picture of Harnest House that will hopefully familiarize College community members with the headquarters' new facade.

"The great thing is that we are finally going to be in one place," articulated Melody Perkins, assistant director of administration, who previously shared an isolated office in the basement of Forest Hall with Assistant Director of Patrol Operations Daniel Gaiotti. Both Boudah and Perkins look forward to the less stressful environment that will transpire in the new location, allowing for a much more streamlined efficiency of operation.

Public Safety originally intended to move into Centeno House along with Health Services, but the College could not acquire a town permit to build addition to the facility. Harnest House coincidentally opened up as a "fortunate option," explained Perkins, and Public Safety jumped at the chance.

Furniture installation began as early as last Friday explained Perkins. The offices of administrative personnel such as the director, the two assistant directors, the administrative assistant and the communications manager already made the switch on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Last-minute emergency services, such as the dispatch radio, switchboard and alarm monitoring stations, will be moved over on Sunday as the final installation before Public Safety is up-and-running in their new headquarters. "However, we cannot afford any downtime - it is important that they are the last thing moved over," said Perkins.

Campus Security plans to have the new facilities in Harnest House fully operational and the Carr Hall office completely closed by noon of this Sunday. Signs will also be posted at the Carr Hall entrance to remind the community of the location change.

Public Safety Officer David Delphia assures students that the move "won't affect emergency care or patrol service," as the dispatch radio crackled through the receiver on his shoulder-piece. "We are always a phone call away with the same spread in coverage," Delphia added.

Public Safety patrol officers are particularly anticipating their move out of the single stuffy space that previously served a three-part role as a locker room, a forum for officers met and brief each other and an interrogation room for suspected or convicted students. In Delphia's opinion, "Everything in one room for a working environment is not ideal," as the officers will receive up to three rooms for each function in the new Harnest facilities.

However that still does not address the primary student concern that the new location is an exceedingly inconvenient place to walk. Although new parking spaces will be opened on South Main Street to accommodate a larger influx of car traffic to the office, students have already begun voicing their concerns for making the long walk alone across campus at night if they are locked out of their dorms. "Once the snow comes, students would sooner pass out a lounge floor before making the trip to Public Safety," commented Dave Nicholson '06.5.

Nevertheless, Boudah assures that "campus is always going to be as safe as it has been. It is a very safe place." So if Ross Commons, Gifford or Forest residents think they can breathe a sigh of relief with Public Safety moving completely across campus from their location this week, think again.

Neither Boudah nor Perkins anticipate a sharp increase in Public Safety issues once the offices settles into the outskirts of campus. Students living in close proximity to the old Carr location might be deceived into thinking that they are less susceptible to violations, but an officer on routine patrol still has the same likelihood to investigate a noise as before. "It's hard to tell if students will start misbehaving," said Officer Delphia. "Only time will tell."