Â鶹´«Ã½ DPS focuses on safety, security -- for you and your car
By: DAMAIA DAVIS, Panther editor
Apr 10, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Public Safety has been improving its staffing and effectiveness on campus, according to Chief Melvin Williams' latest update with student journalists.
A big concern for students with cars was the break-ins happening at night. Williams was proud to share the department's new strategy for the issue.
“We developed a plan, and we used data,” Williams said. “We did analysis and determined the basic dates and times that individuals were breaking into vehicles. We then used that information to increase our staff.”
Williams shared that there have been no break-ins in on-campus parking this semester, reporting only two break-ins at off-campus housing. “But I'll take those two there over the 11, 12, 13 in parking lots.”
The department has also made an addition to their staff. Through grant funding and state certification, they hired victims' advocate Tiffany Ham.
“Tiffany went to the hospital with a friend of hers who had an unfortunate event happen to her off campus, but it happened, and we are we were so impressed by the way Tiffany dealt with that one lady that we started talking with her and developing her as a victim advocate before she graduated.”
During a news conference in fall 2024, Williams expressed a need for increased staff for the department, stating that DPS outsources additional security. This is still a problem he is trying to solve.
“My administrative assistant, I have sent her to grant-writing school so she is constantly looking for grants to see whether we can get additional funding through grants to hire additional officers,” Williams said.
Â鶹´«Ã½’s DPS is accessible at all hours and can be contacted at 803-535-5000 or one of the emergency contact booths located across campus.
“We are a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-days-a-year operation,” Williams said. “We’re like the buildings in the streets, we never leave.”
Williams emphasized students’ role in ensuring that the campus remains a safe space by:
• Reporting individuals who don't belong on campus
• Not letting strangers into residence halls
• Not propping open residence hall doors
• Not leaving valuables in cars