By SUSAN JONES
For the semester’s first meeting of the Senate Campus Utilization, Planning and Safety (CUPS) committee, Scott Argiro gave a quick overview of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, where he serves as assistant vice chancellor.
One topic he touched on was whether Pitt uses the controversial Flock cameras, which have been criticized for tracking everyday movements of people not suspected of any crime.
“We do not operate on Flock cameras in the University,” he said. “All our cameras are on a closed circuit system that only our investigators have access to. There’s a limited amount of storage there, a limited amount of review time. It’s only used for investigative purposes. They’re not used for HR purposes to see if people are coming and going. We have very strict policies.”
Argiro also addressed the rash of car thefts in Oakland this summer. He indicated that many were crimes committed by juveniles, which tend to surge in the summer, and most were food delivery drivers who left their vehicles unlocked and running when they ran in to pick up an order.
He said they worked with the Oakland Business Improvement District to get the word out to not leave vehicles as easy targets and with the Pittsburgh Police auto theft squad to get the message out on social media.
“But we’re limited what we can do as a University, even though the thefts are occurring within our confines,” Argiro said. “A lot of them are Pittsburgh Police investigations because they’re happening on their streets.”
Pitt ENS alerts were sent out, he said, to remind people to not leave their car running and unattended, or it could be stolen.
Responding to questions about the
new policy that prohibits electric scooters from being parked or stored on all University property, Argiro said it has generated a lot of positive feedback from all parts of the Pitt community. E-scooters also are illegal to ride on public streets or sidewalks.
Electric bicycles with lithium batteries also can’t be stored on University property, but it is legal to ride them on the streets if operators obey the rules of the road.
The Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management includes:
Pitt Police: The department has 188 employees, which includes those at the regional campuses who also are under Pitt Police Chief Holly Lamb. The Pitt Police have jurisdiction within 500 feet of any University-owned or leased building, “which is pretty much all of Oakland,” Argiro said. “And we’re working on the South Side now, so we have a lot of coverage, and as you can see, it’s 24/7 coverage.” They respond to about 51,000 calls annually.
Environmental Health & Safety: This is the second largest unit in the office, behind the police. They conduct inspections of labs, evacuation drills and deal with chemical and other waste from research projects. They’re responsible for construction, research, occupational and chemical safety on campus.
Integrated Security: Argiro oversees this group, which has more than 118 physical sites that it’s responsible for in Oakland. The group handles design and engineering of electronic access and camera systems and installation of security systems, including panic alarms and gates. Argiro said one of his big initiatives this fall is to get the regional campuses up to the same level of safety measures as on the Oakland campus. This includes cameras, panic buttons, card readers and more.
Emergency Management: This group works to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from all emergencies at Pitt. This includes developing UPitt Ready business continuity plans with different responsibility centers on how to keep up and running during and after an emergency.
Threat Assessment Management Team: This multidisciplinary team is made up of people from various departments, including police, Human Resources and Student Affairs, “and it’s our effort to detect, deter and mitigate threats before they escalate into a full-blown threat,” Argiro said. He is on the team as well as Ted Fritz, vice chancellor for public safety & emergency management.
Argiro reminded everyone that if there’s a police issue in Oakland, call 412-624-2121, and encouraged faculty, staff and students to download the new
PittSAFE public safety app.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times until Sept. 30, when she is retiring. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
Have a story idea or news to share? Share it with the University Times.
Follow the University Times on Facebook.
