Under new chief, University of Colorado Boulder Police Department pushes new safety app, mental health training
Within weeks of a new police chief taking the reins at the University of Colorado Boulder this fall, the campus was a victim to one of the various swatting incidents that targeted college campuses across the country, and a false bomb threat followed a few weeks later.
Police Chief Ashley Griffin comes to CU from a career of working in university policing.
"So for me, I think safety for the campus is first and paramount, and so trying to make sure that we are there, that we're assuring our students that their safety is our first concern, and that we're taking all threats seriously until proven otherwise," Griffin said.
Part of that emphasis on safety, Griffin says, comes from more training offered by the FBI, and a new campus safety app -- CU Boulder Safe -- that puts students in touch with police. But out of more than 38,000 students, right now Griffin says only about 2,000 have it downloaded.
"We want everyone to download it. It's only effective if you have it," she said.
Griffin went on to explain that this app will also create another way for students to see safety alerts. Griffin says her team works to assess any threat before alerting the entire campus community.
"When a concern or a threat comes in, you're making a split-second decision of should a timely warning and emergency notification go out."
The app can also connect students to mental health services on campus. These services, and focusing on how policing can intersect with mental health calls, is something that Griffin says is a priority of hers.
"It became apparent that when you work on a college campus, a lot of the calls that we respond to are students that are overwhelmed or they have a lot of anxiety or they're feeling depressed," Griffin said.
In mental health calls, Griffin explained that CU Boulder already has a clinician ride-along, but Griffin wants to bring more mental health training to her officers as well.
"In 2012, I became an instructor for the mental health officer course... It's a 40-hour course, and it teaches officers about recognizing signs and symptoms of mental health, how to de-escalate. And then we had scenarios to help reinforce what the students were learning in that class," Griffin went on to say, "I definitely want to implement that 40-hour course here."
On top of that, Griffin says she is working to continue increased security at football games alongside other new initiatives geared towards college students, like rewarding information on bike thefts with a personally delivered pizza.
"Whenever I'm not in a meeting, then I do try to get out, try to meet students," Griffin said.
She also explained she's working to start a criminal justice club on campus and speaking to students about female leadership in a male dominated industry.
Griffin explained she's looking to the campus for feedback as she wraps up her first semester at CU Boulder.
"I think when you work on a college campus, you're surrounded by people that are learning, and so that makes you want to keep learning and keep bettering yourself," Griffin said.
