The University of Tennessee Health Science Center ranks No. 12 on the new Safe Campus Top 25 list released by the National Campus Safety Summit, the largest campus safety conference in the nation. Other universities receiving recognition include California State University, Fullerton; Furman University; and the University of Houston. The campus police departments at the institutions were recognized for having increased the safety and security of their campus community.
The honor is the second national recognition UTHSC has received in the last year for campus safety. Lieutenant Bruce Holden of the UTHSC Campus Police Department nominated the university for the competition that generates the list. He highlighted the ongoing safety initiative under the leadership of UTHSC Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operations Officer Ken Brown, JD, MPA, PhD, FACHE, and Campus Police Chief Anthony Berryhill.
As a result of the initiative, which launched in 2016, more than 3,000 new cameras are being installed on campus, panic buttons and alarms are located in various places for quicker emergency response, the UT ALERT system was activated, and a Security Systems Officer, who is available seven days a week/24hrs a day, was hired.
The Campus Police Department has grown and achieved much recognition for campus safety. Recently, the department received formal accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®). Accreditation by the organization is a highly regarded recognition of public safety excellence.
Last May, UTHSC ranked in the Top 10 among 490 colleges on the 2019 Safest Campuses in America list, according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security.