Welcome to “Safety Saturdays,” a weekly segment that covers all things safety related at SCAD Savannah.
There is no doubt that violent crimes are a cause for concern, especially for college students and their parents — who for some, live thousands of miles away from their children.
According to an article published in the Savannah Morning News on Jan. 20, the Savannah-Chatham murder rate has not been the highest since 1991.
“This week the City of Savannah has received national media attention concerning violent crime in our community,” said SCMPD (Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief, Joseph H. Lumpkin, Sr.
Lumpkin issued a statement yesterday afternoon regarding the attention Savannah has been receiving due to the recent increase in crime.
“Our violent crime numbers were higher in last year than previous years and our homicides are already double where we were last year – but lower than the rate experienced in October, November and December of 2015,” stated Lumpkin.
In the press release Lumpkin made it clear that the SCMPD has “been very forthcoming and transparent to this community about all the shootings and homicides.”
“We know how serious this is. We are taking this very seriously…We are not hiding the fact that crime is a problem in our community.”
Whilst SCMPD is working to increase staff and encourage the community to help them decrease crime, SCAD safety and security have their own plans for handling violent crimes, particularly gun related violence on and around campus.
“SCAD’s campus safety and security continually monitors crime trends in the city of Savannah and has a good working relationship with the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department,” said Executive Director of Safety & Security, John Buckovich.
“We are currently working on an initiative with SCMPD which will place SCMPD radio channels in the radios of SCAD campus safety and security personnel and in our security operations center. This will provide direct communication with SCMPD officers.”
Buckovich outlined that the program should be fully operational by this summer.
In terms of on-campus related shootings, Buckovich was happy to report that, “there have been no shootings at any SCAD facilities or residence halls.”
Over the past three years SCAD has invested heavily in strengthening campus safety.
According to Buckovich this includes, “the addition of key personnel monitoring activity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in and around all SCAD facilities, investing in technologies like SecureCampus/ShotSpotter and the new infrared perimeter camera system.”
Both SCAD Safety & Security and SCMPD work in tandem to protect the people of Savannah.
“This is a great city. Together we can make it better than it has ever been by reducing crime and the fear of crime,” said Lumpkin.
For more information on violent crimes in Savannah — particularly gun violence — visit the SCMPD website.
Check in every Saturday for an update on all things safety related. For more information on SCAD Safety & Security, contact John Buckovich at jbuckovi@scad.edu or Charles Hall at chall@scad.edu.
Written by Asli Shebe.
Asli Shebe is a senior writing major from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She began working for District in 2014 as a staff writer, then copy editor, A&E editor, Chief Assignment editor and finally, Editor-in-Chief in 2017. Asli currently holds the record for obtaining the most job titles during her time at District. When she’s not writing for District you can find her biking around the Historic District of Savannah at odd hours of the day.
