The San José State University Police Department held its monthly meeting in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on Tuesday, Sept. 30 to address campus safety.
The community meeting, open for students and faculty, is meant to build a strong transparent relationship between the SJSU campus and its public safety staff, according to the event’s webpage.
The meeting began with discussing the efforts UPD has made to keep students and the campus safe.
Jermaine Thomas, UPD captain and operations management, said the main focus for safety surrounding campus is ensuring a response on and off campus.
“We don’t just patrol this area, the campus is the main focus but we go outside a one-mile radius here and at our south campus,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that aside from patrolling on campus, UPD has other on campus services for students to use.
Bluelight emergency phones are located across campus and some inside of buildings and elevators which are used to report emergencies, according to SJSU’s University Police webpage.
“We are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Thomas said. “And anytime an issue or something like that happens on campus, we will respond and handle that.”
Debbie Aguilar, UPD dispatch communications manager, said the phone number gets students and faculty directly to UPD.
“We have towers on campus, (even) if you call 911 you come directly to us (UPD),” Aguilar said.
She said that the bluelight telephones are available if students need a possible escort.
By using the bluelight telephone, students and faculty are able to request an escort if they feel unsafe while being on campus, according to the same UPD webpage.
“It’s based on availability on staffing, but if you do need an escort if you are on campus, we will have some escort,” Aguilar said.
She said that there’s a variety of gadgets in the Spartan Safe app that help students.
The Spartan Safe app integrates campus safety and other security systems all into an accessible app by using EMS features, King Library security and friend walk, according to the SJSU emergency management webpage.
“You can have a friend or a family member monitor you. You could also let us know that ‘hey I am going to be walking to maybe SVP (Spartan Village on the Paseo),’ ” Aguilar said.
However, she said if students are going to use this they must also let them know when they arrived.
“A lot of times people will do that and we don’t know if they ever made it, so let us know you made it safely,” Aguilar said.
UPD has also made efforts to increase on campus safety by providing student housing security.
The housing security officer program is a non sworn program open to students and non-students that provides assistance to the UPD department but also enhances campus safety, according to Captain Thomas.
Lt. Frank Gonzalez, who is in charge of the Housing Security Officer program, discussed how this system works with students.
“(Students) are like security guards, you’re an extra set of eyes and ears, you are out there looking at the community, you are wearing uniforms so people see you (and) recognize you,” Gonzalez said.
He said how these officers are also in place if students need an escort to and from the dorms.
Security officers provide safety services for the residence community that houses over 4,000 students, according to SJSU’s housing community service officer website.
“It’s a good way of getting into the California action system,” Gonzalez said.
The UPD staff also made a note of safety tips students and faculty should follow.
“Make sure there are no valuables (left in the vehicle) that can be seen such as laptops, cell phones and all that stuff that will draw the attention of some suspects to these crimes,” Thomas said.
In the time frame spanning from Jan. to Aug. 2025, San Jose Police Department has reported a total of 801 robbery cases, according to its crime statistics webpage.
In response to some of the safety concerns, Pamela Wells, a School of Management lecturer, brought along some of her students who are working on a community development project.
“Since we are doing community development, this is a part of the community so we wanted to support this and come and hear what resources are available,” Wells said.
She mentioned how she is an advocate for community events similar to these meetings.
“(I am) trying to help promote some of the events that happen around campus to support the community, so this is one of those things that match really well with the class,” Wells said.
