Insights for Strategic Leaders

In the wake of a high-profile campus incident or an unexpected infusion of year-end funding, the pressure on a Public Safety Executive to "do something" is immense. Often, that "something" takes the form of a major technology purchase.

Technology should never be a reaction; it should be an acceleration of a pre-existing strategy. Avoid the ad hoc trap by focusing on integration, staffing, and measurable outcomes. The goal isn't to have the most technology—it’s to have the most effective technology.

As funding resources become more challenging, one question inevitably arises regarding the line item for “Blue Light Emergency Phones” and their necessity on a modern campus.

I have been asked:

"Charlie, do we really need these? Every student has a smartphone. Let’s cut the maintenance costs and put that money into an app."

On the surface, this makes perfect sense. Why pay to maintain hardwired steel towers when every student carries a supercomputer in their pocket?

But as a Public Safety Executive, removing them is a strategic error.

For years, the norm was for campus safety and student counseling to operate separately. The counseling center focused on a student's mental well-being, while the police department focused on crime, incidents, and safety.

That outdated approach could dramatically increase risks.

Once Student Affairs and Public Safety began strong collaboration, a “new” strategic roadmap emerged. Responding to mental health shifted from public safety to public health.

On or before October 1st, universities across the nation release their Annual Security Report (ASR) as mandated by the Clery Act. For many parents, this 100+ page document is overwhelming. They flip immediately to the crime statistics tables, compare universities, and decide which is the safest.

As a Public Safety Executive who has overseen the production of these reports for a major university, I have found that the numbers rarely tell the whole story.