Syracuse University to host 2004 NECUSA Conference

Syracuse University to host 2004 NECUSA ConferenceJune 11, 2004Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety will host the 2004 Northeast Colleges and Universities Security Association’s (NECUSA) annual conference, slated for June 13-16 at the SU Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center. More than 120 law enforcement professionals are expected to attend the four-day event.

The conference will feature presentations on a range of contemporary issues facing campus public safety departments, including town/gown partnerships, domestic violence, security for international students, and recruiting and retaining women and minorities.

Special guests include Howard and Connie Clery, founders of Security on Campus, Inc., a non-profit organization whose many goals include educating students, parents and campus communities about crime; offering guidance to victims and their families; fostering security improvements; and providing programs to reduce alcohol and drug abuse. The Clerys co-founded the organization in 1987, following the rape and murder of their daughter, Jeanne, by a fellow student in her dormitory at Lehigh University the previous year.

“Syracuse University is very honored to host the NECUSA conference this year,” says SU Department of Public Safety Chief Marlene Hall. “This conference affords the opportunity for not only public safety officials to learn from and share information with each other, but it also opens the door for constructive, educational exchanges to take place among campus and municipal law enforcement, campus administrators and students. It is an excellent way to become updated on critical, contemporary campus issues and problem-solve together,” she says.

Other presentations include a session about College Crime Watch (CCW), featuring Youth Crime Watch of America (YCWA) Executive Director Terry Modglin. CCW, an outgrowth of YCWA, is an organization that seeks to create crime- and drug-free campus environments that allow for safe learning and living. The highly successful CCW program at SU, established in fall 2002, has been recognized as the CCW Site of the Year the past two consecutive years. CCW at SU has initiated many successful campus safety programs, including last fall’s sticker campaign in collaboration with the University R.A.P.E. Center and the Department of Public Safety. It aimed to educate the campus community about personal safety and sexual assault and to publicize the 24-hour services of the University R.A.P.E. Center. The group developed a series of eight different informational and educational stickers that include various safety tips and emergency contact information. More than 1,200 stickers were placed on all bathroom stalls in the residence halls and academic buildings.

Additionally, a panel consisting of Hall, Syracuse Police Chief Dennis DuVal and University of New Hampshire Police Chief Nicholas Halias will discuss campus and municipal partnerships in handling “town/gown” and sports related issues.

NECUSA, the first campus safety and law enforcement organization, was established in 1953 to provide a forum for campus safety and campus law enforcement administrators to share information and resources. NECUSA provides many services to its members, including cost-effective, high quality professional development opportunities, information on the challenges facing campus law enforcement and successful programs at other colleges, and a network of dedicated campus law enforcement professionals. For more information, visit http://www.necusa.org/.

Officially chartered in 1870 as a private, coeducational institution of higher education, Syracuse University is a leading student-centered research university. Syracuse’s 12 schools and colleges share a common mission: to promote learning through teaching, research, scholarship, creative accomplishment and service while embracing the core values of quality, caring, diversity, innovation and service. The 938-acre campus is home to more than 18,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and 90 countries.