by Martha Gray Sasser ’27
May 2024
With two trespassing instances in recent weeks, USN’s need for conversations around security cameras has become more immediately pressing.
Early on the morning of Thursday, April 18, a man scaled the fence over by the Alper Gate, known as “walker’s gate.” He was able to enter a kindergarten classroom through an outward facing door that was accidentally left ajar.
The Vanderbilt University Police Department received a notification that there was activity on campus and were able to locate the man’s whereabouts. Before an officer had made it to campus, the man had taken some items from lost and found, as well a backpack that were left in hallways. Once a VUPD officer had made it on to campus, the man fled before an officer was able to find him. He was arrested on April 24 after another incident at Vanderbilt and charged with aggravated criminal trespassing.
A second incident occurred on the afternoon of Friday, April 19, right before afternoon dismissal, when a woman was seen walking around the parking lot on 21st Avenue. Officers spotted the woman and went to try to get her off campus. She was not allowing VUPD to talk to her, giving false names, and not showing her ID. All of these lead to her arrest.
“Our VUPD Community Service Officer and Operation staff immediately stopped this person, who was arrested and charged with trespassing,” wrote Director of Safety and Security Aerin Washington in an email to the USN community.
One reason these two incidents did not become issues was because of the new security cameras. Within the past year, the USN administration has identified campus security as a top priority. In support of that priority, USN appointed Captain Washington to her role as the Director of Safety and Security this summer.
Washington, who was brought to USN from Vanderbilt with a goal of creating a safer campus for USN students and staff, says that cameras contribute to improved the school’s reaction times.
“The cameras are really a part of us being able to kind of improve our response to various things around campus,” Washington said.
This new installation project has increased the number of cameras on campus from 23 to 43. Whereas there were previously no cameras above the second floor of USN’s main building, there are now cameras on every floor.
USN has also hired more Community Service Officers to secure the parking lots and the building itself. CSOs can be seen greeting students at the 19th Avenue entrance at the beginning and end of the school day, but they can also be seen in the halls during the school day. These school officers have become increasingly visible: they are in the building on weekends, present at after school events during the week, and can be seen at the River Campus during sports practices.
The officers also unlock the doors in the morning and continue to unlock it throughout the day. USN has now started locking all of the outward facing doors. This practice is in accordance with HB322, a law from the Tennessee State Legislature that went into effect on July 1, 2023. This law was created in hopes of creating safer campuses for all students in Tennessee.
All of these new updates to the school security are part of a strategic plan to create a safer environment for USN students, faculty, staff, and all visitors who come to USN on a daily basis. Washington said the cameras are just one piece of a larger plan to improve security.
“The cameras are a part of overall strategic kind of secure safety and security plan that we have,” Washington said.
Students can expect to see many more updates regarding security to come, whether it be this year or in the years to follow. These could be little things like having an extra CSO officer at the door in the morning, or adding more updates to cameras in the future.
One of the school’s highest priorities and responsibilities is to make sure that students come to school every day and can feel safe while spending time on campus.
