Campus Police and Public Safety Office

Grace Kinsman, staff writer

The public safety office and campus police are the men and women to thank for PVCC’s safe campus.

In the last four years, there have been no crime reports on campus. According to these statistics found on the PVCC website, it seems that the public safety office and campus police are doing a great job of keeping students and faculty safe.

The public safety office is easily accessible and is in the main building as soon as you walk in through the west entrance. The officers wear uniforms and are easily identifiable.

The public safety office at PVCC has many responsibilities. Their mission statement, as written on the PVCC website, “is to provide for the safety and security of students, faculty, and staff, and the general public while on or in any property or facility owned or operated by the college.”

Tavares Gray, public safety office employee, elaborated and said, “The job is making sure students are safe, monitoring parking, and making sure we are opening all the doors in the morning.” The public safety office is also where students would go if they needed a student identification card.

Walking from a class to the parking lot at the end of a night class can sometimes be nerve-wracking. The public safety office and campus police offer an escort program 24 hours a day to assist students wherever they need to go on campus.

The office also lists a security officer’s phone number on their website for emergencies. The number is 434-961-5319.

The campus police officers are all employed by PVCC to protect the campus and surrounding areas.

The PVCC website has brief biographies of three of the officers that are employed by Piedmont Virginia Community College. Joe Hood, Kyle Wax, and Chris Wyatt all bring at least 15 years of experience to PVCC’s police force.

The public safety office and campus police are an essential facet of the college and ensure the safety of the PVCC students and faculty.