Campus Safety

The mission of the department is strongly informed by the voices of the Smith community. Over the course of the spring 2019 semester, a Campus Safety Advisory Group (CSAG) met with more than 425 students, staff and faculty in 14 listening sessions, three open forums and a community playback meeting, which resulted in a set of recommendations. Smith’s independent campus safety department and dispatch is located on West Street, which aligns with feedback that dispatch should be located at Smith and operated by staff deeply familiar with the campus and community.

The CSAG invites any member of the Smith community to provide feedback by emailing campussafetyfeedback@smith.edu. 

A community focus will be manifest through such practices as additional biking and walking shifts to reduce the presence of police cruisers; programing to build community engagement; and the creation of a community advisory committee with seats for students to work with the department.

Our mission includes the following recommendations:

• Continue to be unarmed.
• Continue to be sworn officers, which requires a high standard of ongoing training in areas including deescalation, crisis intervention and mental health response, and reduces the need for local and state law enforcement presence on campus.
• Reduce vehicle patrols on campus in favor of bicycles and walking.
• Continue to refuse any voluntary requests to release any information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any student, staff or faculty member unless legally compelled to do so. Should the college be subpoenaed for such information, Smith will seek legal counsel before taking any steps to comply.