Grayson Fuller

Ferris State University

1312 S. State St.
Big Rapids, MI 49307
November 18, 2014
Bruce W. Borkovich
Director of Department of Public Safety
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI 49307
Dear Mr. Borkovich:
The report attached to this letter is an examination of Ferris State Universitys current security
program. All of campus was considered when investigating these concerns. The report breaks
down the problem areas of security around campus, while recommending solutions to the
problems. As a student of Ferris State for 3 years, and a Resident advisor for 2 and a half years, I
have gained much insight on this topic.
Research was based on the assumption that Ferris State University should be completely
prepared to alleviate a threat like the 2007 tragedy at Virginia Tech University. The report
highlights areas around campus that have seemed to attract criminal activity, while providing
research that supports the use of the recommended programs to deter this behavior.
These findings were taken from published articles as well as a few public online sources. These
sources, you will find, support the use for a better and more organized security program for our
great school. I would be honored to discuss the findings of this report if you see it fit. I
appreciate the time out of your day to look over my report.

Sincerely,

Grayson T. Fuller

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY SECURITY ANALYSIS

Prepared for the

Director of the Department of Public Safety
Bruce W. Borkovich
Ferris State University

Prepared by
Grayson T. Fuller
Staff of Housing and Residence Life
Ferris State University

November 18, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................1

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................2

Background ......................................................................................................................................2

Recommendation .............................................................................................................................4

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................6

Appendix I .......................................................................................................................................8

Works Cited .....................................................................................................................................9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The security of Ferris State University campus is not what it should be considering the
fact that schools are becoming a more popular target sight for crimes in the past 5-10 years.
Specifically, sexual assault and drug usage are big crimes that Ferris State is becoming known
for, and the addition or appendage of the current security program needs to happen. This report
will detail the problem areas around campus that are most vulnerable to threats. It will detail
why these places are becoming such issues, while recommending a course of action that will
deter the crimes in the most efficient way.

One of the biggest problem areas to consider are the Residence Halls located around
campus. More and more these are becoming sites of crimes because the security in and around
them is lacking to say the least. The use of a swipe access controller can only do so much unless
non-residents decide to tailgate in with somebody who does have access. I recommend the use
of security cameras in and around the hall and its entrances, so housing staff is able to maintain
visuals on people who should be walking with an escort. Too often are non-residents roaming
around the halls unescorted. A closed circuit monitoring system would not only help housing
staff, but also create a sense of security for residents and deter crimes from happening in general.

Another problem is the lighting around campus. The darkness in some spots around
campus makes them prime locations for crime to happen. These areas need to have more
lighting to illuminate the path. Cutting down on the dark spots around campus will cut down on
the amount of potential for crimes to happen, especially sexual assault. In addition, the
notification system in place works well, but only for the students who want it. Some students are
not signed up for this notification system so they will be unaware of possible threats around
campus. Using an emergency public address (PA) system would be of great benefit to the
housing staff. This system would be able to warn all of the students at one time of a dangerous
or threatening situation, instead of waiting for them to check their phones or email.

After reasoning with more specifics in this report, it is recommended that these findings
be used around campus to add on to what Ferris State is already using. The security is better
than some schools, but equally, there are some holes Ferris is known for that we need to address.
Becoming more aware of the current security situation is the first step in creating the best
possible atmosphere for the students, faculty, and anyone who is at Ferris State University.

INTRODUCTION
The Virginia Tech (VT) shooting in 2007 is considered one of the deadliest shooting
rampages in U.S. history. After this improbable tragedy, university and other education security
increased a great amount, but I still do not think it is where it should be today. Unless somebody
has been directly affected by a substantial disaster in their life, most people suffer from an it
wont happen to us state of mind. This state of mind contains a considerable amount of risk and
can backfire immensely in a short amount of time. Before the VT shooting, this was how the
majority of people thought. Nowadays, more and more people are becoming aware of how
dangerous that type of thinking is. For larger and more urban schools and universities, security
is taking a step in the right direction. However, for smaller and more rural schools, like Ferris,
the general feeling is that we still think it cant happen to us. I am recommending that we do
something more before people realize catastrophes like VT can happen anywhere.
More locally, a sexual assault was recently attempted in October of 2012. A young
woman was walking at night between Lot 25 and State Street, which was somewhat under
construction. The man was said to have dragged her behind the bushes and attempted to sexually
assault her. She was able to escape and call for help, but the man was never found or charged
(Police). These kinds of crimes should not be happening on our campus. This area must have
been dark enough for this man to believe he could get away with something terrible. Issues like
this must be resolved so people on campus are not as afraid to walk alone at night as they do
currently.
As a Resident Advisor (RA), I, along with my fellow staff members, attempt to maintain
the safety of our Residence Hall. After working in Housing for the last three years, I have come
to see some security flaws in the Residence Halls and around campus. The lack of a security
monitoring system in the Residence Halls seems to be a problem for keeping the safety of our
buildings, especially for those Residence Halls whose front desk area is not located at the main
entrance. Another problem that is becoming known happens at night. At night, the campus
becomes much darker because there doesnt seem to be enough lights for the amount of walk
space on our campus. In addition, there might just not be lights placed in the most appropriate
places. The darkness of our campus at night has been brought up as a security threat for our
campus.
One way Ferris State University is striving in safety is the regulation that disallows any
weapons on campus. This not only helps keep the entire campus safer in general, but it also
allows university students and faculty feel safer because they do not have to worry about that
possibility. While this regulation is effective, still other security holes should be looked into so
nothing like VT can begin to happen here.
BACKGROUND
According to the Ferris State University Annual Security and Fire Report, from 20112013 there were 17 sexual offense charges. Fourteen of these sexual crimes were committed
directly on the Universitys campus. In addition, according to the same report, there were a total
of 135 drug-related charges, 23 burglary charges, and 6 aggravated assault charges in the same
2

period (Department). These numbers seem much too high for how small our campus is. It
appears we should be focusing on cutting this number as much as we can. In addition, from
Ferris State University Crime Statistics, the Universitys forcible sexual assault rate is 12.6%
higher than the national average per 1,000 students. These crimes should be the main focus of
deterrence when considering the safety of our campus.
Multiple times in staff meetings, Resident Advisors and Desk Service Managers have
said the hardest part about maintaining building security is being able to see who is coming and
going into and from their buildings. With entrances spanned all around each building, currently,
it is impossible to know what kind of people are entering the buildings. Another problem with
the entrances is that not all Residence Halls have front desks that are at the main entrance. In
Puterbaugh/Henderson specifically, their front desks are nowhere close to the main entrance,
which means the desk workers are unable to clearly see anyone enter the building.
The only security measure to keep people who shouldnt be in the building out of the
building is the swipe access controllers at each entrance. These are helpful only if the nonresidents are impatient. If the non-residents wait a short amount of time, they can get in by
following someone in who has swipe access. The term for these people is a tailgater.
Tailgaters are a big problem in the security of the Residence Halls. RAs are continually finding
people who are roaming the halls unescorted who do not live in our buildings. Tailgaters are
able to get into the building far too easily and could someday cost the University a lot of money
in a lawsuit if we do not take better actions with this issue. This could be such a big issue
because one of the expectations for the Housing staff job is to create a community on the floor.
We are supposed to make their room their home away from home. If people who do not live
in the building are entering this easily, it diminishes the sense of community because residents
feel unsecure. Not only could their feelings of security be at risk, but if the VT situation
happened in a residence hall, their physical well-being could be at risk also. If a student were
mentally unstable enough, it would not be difficult for that student to find out where a person
lives on campus, get into the building, and do something drastic. This is why the lack of a
security monitoring system is such a big risk.
Proper lighting around campus is not only attributed to the feeling of security, which is
usually lights main purpose, but to actual deterring. At Ferris State University, sadly, sexual
assault has been on the rise. In a specific case a couple years ago, a young woman was sexually
assaulted while she was simply walking down a sidewalk on campus. There are many areas
around campus that have been deemed by students too dark to walk alone through. Even the
majority of males have expressed how uncomfortable they would feel walking through these
areas alone at night. The path behind Bond Hall and the sidewalk leading from State Street to
Ewigleben are two to name a few. These paths, along with others, have little to no lights
illumination the areas and also have little to no blue emergency stations. These areas not only
feel extremely dangerous, but also could easily become a target area for other sexual assaults. If
Ferris State wants to keep a reputation of safety, something about this must change.
In addition, the Residence Halls do not have a firm security program in place. That being
said, the University has a strong security program in place with the text/email alert system. That
program has been used and is believed to be a big success. Even though this is a great resource,
3

it is only available to students who sign up for it. If a student chooses not to sign up, or has not
been able to yet, the security service is of no use to them. This will result in only specific
awareness from resident to resident. Having a security program within the Residence Halls
would be an even better way of utilizing what is already in place for the campus wide security.
Another notification system might be helpful in the classrooms. Cameras are currently noticed
throughout the classroom buildings at Ferris, but notification systems are not in place in the
physical classroom. Should a threatening situation occur in the classroom, if the telephone is
disabled, there is not another way to alert authorities of a bad situation.
RECOMMENDATION
Front Desks
There are many different kinds of solutions to these problems. Some schools have
effectively implemented new age security programs while others are still in the earlier stages of
getting quality security. When discussing the topic of the positions of the front desks, my
recommendation would be to move the front desk areas so that students who use the main
entrance are forced to walk by the front desk. Miller, Ward, Pickell, and Cramer are great
examples of front desk placements. Puterbaugh, Henderson, Merrill, and Travis are examples of
front desk placements that are prone to easy non-resident entrance. A simple way to help with
this problem is to institute a sort of curfew program with the entrances. If all doors were locked
after a time late at night, it would force all residents to call the front desk to ask to be let in. This
would be beneficial because then the front desk workers would be able to monitor who is coming
into the building. Also, if the student were a non-resident, the front desk workers would be able
to make sure they have an appropriate escort for the building. A program like this would be
inexpensive and would be a good step in the right direction when it comes to upping security on
campus, especially in the Residence Halls.
Camera System
Tailgaters are a problem all halls have to deal with. They are also hard to spot because
they usually do not use main entrances. Even though they are not able to get in with their student
ID, they can still wait for another student with swipe access to follow into the building, which is
why they are so unsafe. According to another study of school districts safety personnel in 2001,
90 percent of sampled school districts were using video cameras and 87 percent were using video
recording systems (Rafferty 10). A video surveillance system would be greatly beneficial to all
the halls. They system would serve many purposes including making the residents of the
building feel safer, deterring possible crimes in or around the building, and making sure no nonresidents are entering the building without an appropriate escort. Another good reason to have
video cameras in or around the halls is their recording capabilities. Crimes like sexual assault
are usually difficult to solve because the only lead is what the victim thought the person looked
like. With video cameras monitoring the entrances of the halls, this gives the halls the
capabilities to possibly catch a crime happening on camera. This would be helpful when
attempting to solve a crime that did not necessarily happen in the Residence Hall. For the most
part, students are not going to try anything drastic if they feel they might be caught. When
implementing security cameras, the reputation around the areas with cameras will become
known as safe because of the recording capacity of the cameras.

Lighting
Residents have expressed their concerns to staff that some parts of the Ferris campus are
much too dark at night. Make certain that exterior lighting is sufficient for safety. Lights
mounted on the exterior of buildings often are inadequate for adjoining driveways or parking
lots (Green 17). This article shows many different ways security systems can be put in place,
and explains their importance. Lighting by no means prevents crime from happening. Darkness
is mostly a mental barrier that people are not comfortable with, and at the same time, is a more
applicable place for crime to happen. Therefore, putting more lighting on campus paths would,
reduce the amount of places for crimes to happen. Proper lighting is something that puts a
University over the top when it comes to security. A campus can have all the security cameras
they could ever want, but if they do not have proper lights, night falls on the campus and the
cameras become useless because they too cannot see in the dark. Having proper lighting on
campus is essential if we want to deter crimes like sexual assault.
Emergency Stations
A good utility for residents in emergencies are the blue emergency stations located
around campus. These stations were scarce many years ago, but with all of the shootings in
schools, it has become aware that campus security is of the upmost importance. We have more
blue stations than before, but I still do not think we have enough. Also, I do not think some are
in appropriate places. On the one side, we should implement more blue emergency stations
around campus. Although, cost is a factor in this and it may be expensive to add as many as
people might want. To come to a compromise, we should start placing blue stations in locations
that are more appropriate. Some blue stations are near very populated areas of campus; this is
counterproductive because crimes usually do not happen in those areas. The areas Ferris need
blue stations at the most are the areas that are most dimly lit and that see the least amount of foot
and vehicle traffic.
Notification System
When it comes to a solid notification system, what Ferris is currently using might not be
the best for what it is trying to accomplish. In a survey of campus security officials only 14%
admitted their campus was using a Public Address System (PA system) prior to the VT shooting.
Then, 27% said the issue had been discussed but ultimately no decision was ever made. The most
popular notification systems are that through text and email (Rasmussen 17). For the notification
system currently in place, students have to first sign up for the service. If they sign up for the
service, they then must check their email to see about campus threats. If not their email their
phone is usually most reliable, but again they must sign up for the program. Awareness about
this program is what is lacking. When I talk to some residents, they do not know what the
program even is. A good program to implement is to install PA systems in the halls and
classrooms. They are not meant for mundane updates about the hall like programs or meetings
for example. Installing an emergency PA system is something that would be very valuable for
the University. This way if an emergency was happening in the building or around campus, like
an intruder or fire for example, we could reliably notify all residents in the building of the threat.
Panic Buttons
The use of a panic button in classrooms may seem like a bit of an overreaction, but we
should never say, It wont happen to us. If a classroom is experiencing a threatening situation,
5

there should be someway a professor or student can alert the authorities. Most likely the button
should be out of sight so as to prevent the accidental press of the button or to prevent the
mischievous student from pressing the button, triggering a false alarm (Green 114). Having a
secure place for the button located inside the classroom is an invaluable asset should there be a
situation happening in a classroom rather than on campus or in a Residence Hall. Some
programs even give the teacher a PIN to enter before they can alert the authorities. While the
specifics of the program may be discussed later, the use of the alert system inside the actual
classroom should be implemented.
CONCLUSION
It is well aware by students who attend Ferris State University that security around
campus could be better. With multiple sexual assault crimes, burglary, and prevalent drug usage,
the campus may not feel safe, which could possibly push people away from attending our great
University. There are some minor locational problems with lighting and emergency response.
While, there are some major problems I have seen in the Residence Halls.
The DPS Annual Report showed that drugs and sexual assault are very real threats to our
University. These crimes should be our focus when attempting to establish a stronger security
system throughout our campus. The use of security cameras would greatly decrease the amount
of crime happening. Students would even feel safer. Wake Forest University has recently
stepped up their security forces by adding cameras in their dormitories. Many people believe the
cameras may push the students right to privacy, but if placed correctly, they can be a deterrent
and make students feel safer. The cameras are only in the halls and other public areas so I dont
feel as though Im losing any privacy through their addition and it definitely makes me feel safer
in the dorm. I think it will result in the deterrence of all types of criminals (Rutledge 1). Some
students will inherently go against the use of cameras in the halls, but many students still agree
with the concept. Im honestly surprised that Wake is just now getting cameras in its residence
halls, junior Tucker Ammons said. I think that the money saved by catching vandals and the
added security is a necessity to make this campus as safe as it can possibly be (Rutledge 1).
Clearly, the use of a security monitoring system would be a great addition to the schools
security force. Other additions should include a better emergency notification system. It is
difficult to get every student on campus signed up for the notification system we have in place
currently. While the idea is in the right place, the execution is what is most difficult. Having a
more sure fire way to alert students of danger needs to be used. Whether it be more blue
stations, or a panic button in classrooms for professors, having better, more efficient, ways of
getting the word out if need be is should be essential for this campuss safety.
Through past crimes committed on Ferris campus and through resident opinion, there is
not enough lighting for the size of Ferris, especially at night. The sidewalks sometimes take long
routes and if there is not proper lighting, the area becomes a target for sexual assaults or
robberies. The security camera program can only do so much because at night it is much harder
for that technology to notice a crime. By implementing lighting to our campus, the security
cameras would be able to record better, and it would deter criminals in general from committing
a crime in the light.
6

In conclusion, it seems that Ferris State security on campus needs updating. The absence
of security cameras, proper lighting, the lack of properly placed emergency stations, and a
difficult notification system, create concerns from myself and other students and faculty that
should be seriously looked into. The way Ferris security is now will not deter criminals. The
BE ALERT Watchdog program is a program that encourages students to be on the lookout for
suspicious activity. This alone is not enough because residents inherently assume they are not in
any immediate danger. This University must take a more aggressive approach to its security
measures so we do not become the next victims of a Virginia Tech incident. We need to always
believe It could happen to us.

APPENDIX I
This graph combines the findings from the DPS Annual Crime and Fire Report with the
Ferris State University Crime Statistics 1. It highlights the most common crimes committed at
Ferris State University from 2011-2013, along with showing our comparison to the national
average. As shown, our aggravated assaults and sexual offenses are 12.6% higher than the
national average.

Offense

On
campus

Non
campus

Public
Property

Residential
Facilities

Total

Variation
from
Natl
Average

Sexual
Offense

13

17

12.60%

Aggravated
Assault

12.60%

Burglary

21

23

-92.40%

Drug Law
Arrests

32

14

79

125

N/A

When it comes to video cameras, it is shown that they can support a diverse group of security
initiatives

Parking lots
Cafeterias
Patios
Hallways
Recreational Centers
Administrative Buildings
School stores
Labs
Supply rooms
Hall entrances

Occasionally, an irate parent may threaten school

employee, but his can be mitigated if the parent sees himself being
recorded on video monitor.

"Ferris State University Crime Statistics." Ferris State University Crime Statistics. N.p., n.d.
Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
http://www.nerdwallet.com/nerdscholar/compareschools/safety/university/ferris-state-university.
8

Works Cited
Department of Public Safety. "Campus Crime Awareness - Annual Security & Fire
Report." Department of Public Safety. N.p., 30 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/othersrv/campussafety/safety.html.>
"Ferris State University Crime Statistics." Ferris State University Crime Statistics. N.p., n.d.
Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nerdwallet.
com/nerdscholar/compareschools/safety/university/ferris-state-university.>
Green, Mary W. "The Appropriate and Effective Use of Security Technologies in U.S. Schools.
A Guide for Schools and Law Enforcement Agencies." ERIC. N.p., Sept. 1999. Web. 9
Nov. 2014. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED436943.pdf.>
"Police Release Sketch of Ferris State Sex Assault Suspect." Up North Live. N.p., 29 Oct. 2012.
Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=818735#.VGjsVvnF9Z0>
Rafferty, Victoria. "Vandalism on College Campuses: The Need for More Security." ERIC. N.p.,
May 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509678.pdf.>
Rasmussen, Chris, and Gina Johnson. "The Ripple Effect of Virginia Tech: Assessing the
Nationwide Impact on Campus Safety and Security Policy and Practice." ERIC. N.p.,
May 2008. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502232.pdf.>
Rutledge, Ian. "Security Cameras Installed in Dorms." Old Gold Black RSS. Wake Forest
University, 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <http://oldgoldandblack.com/?p=41171.>