By SUSAN JONES
Pitt Public Safety and Emergency Management deals with plenty of high-profile issues like robberies in South Oakland or protests at the Cathedral, but it’s often pedestrian awareness that can be the biggest safety concern each fall.
“Year in and year out, it’s an issue that we can never forget about, especially when you have a new batch of students coming in every year, you have new employees, and everyone just needs to be reminded about how busy Oakland is,” said Ted Fritz, vice chancellor for public safety and emergency management.
Both pedestrians and drivers need to be vigilant and be aware of their surroundings, Fritz said.
Drivers need to be on the lookout for jaywalkers, as well as people opening car doors or other cars stopping abruptly to drop someone off.
“It’s one of the busiest commercial districts in the state,” he said. “As a result, there’s a lot of different things going on. And my advice to people is always add in some extra minutes about where you’re going, so then when you do need to slow down or stop, you’re not aggravated by that.”
As for pedestrians, Pitt Police Chief Holly Lamb said students and others need to be paying attention when they’re crossing busy streets, and ideally not looking at phones or wearing earbuds.
Both Lamb and Fritz said they’ll be happy to see the opposite direction bus lane on Fifth Avenue go away when the new Bus Rapid Transit system is built in Oakland. Particularly for new students, this can cause some confusion.
Pedestrians also need to pay attention to construction signage, and avoid walking through construction areas. For instance, if a sign says the sidewalk is closed, don’t try to get around it by walking on the street. If the signage is wrong, then let Public Safety know.
The Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management will have its annual Pedestrian Safety Blitz from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 4. Pitt police officers from the Community Programs Unit will be at different intersections, mostly in central campus, handing out candy and postcards with safety tips.
Other issues
Of course, pedestrian issues aren’t the only safety concerns on a campus the size of Pitt.
Work to install panic alarms and remote locks in all classrooms has been completed. As for expanding those features to offices, Fritz said that will be based on a risk assessment. “We’ll look at what happens in those offices, or where’s the office located, who else is around, that kind of thing.”
He and Lamb pointed out that having the RAVE Guardian app on your phone is as good as a panic alarm.
“You can talk to the police by just pushing a button, and they know exactly where you’re at as long as you’ve chosen to share your location with them,” Fritz said. “So if you called them and all of a sudden you couldn’t talk for some reason, they’re going to send somebody.”
The app also is helpful if students or employees are walking alone at night — which is another time Lamb said people should be aware of their surroundings. The safety timer features allows you to alert a friend that, for instance, you’re leaving Hillman Library, walking home to South Oakland and expect to arrive in 20 minutes. The friend can track your progress, if you wish, and they will get an alert if you don’t arrive in the allotted time. There’s also a walking escort program available at Hillman Library.
“It gives people a little more sense of security,” Fritz said. “We would rather people, at night, be walking with somebody, absolutely. But we also realize that you can’t always do that, and so this is a way to help with that.”
Faculty and staff can help promote personal safety among students, too, Fritz and Lamb said.
“When they’re talking about wellbeing, which I think our staff and faculty do talk about a lot, it could be included in those kinds of conversations,” Fritz said. “Not only are you getting good rest and taking care of yourself mentally and physically, but also are you paying attention to how you got here today.”
New students are required to watch a 30-minute safety video and new employees are encouraged to do the same. “I still would rather more people watch, not just new employees,” Fritz said.
There are a variety of videos and other resources on the newly rebranded safety.pitt.edu website, which combines information from all the departments in the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management.
Fritz said they also really appreciate “when people tell us if there’s some safety issue that they’re seeing. We all try and get out and about and see as much as we can and find out what’s happening. But we really count on the University community to let us know too, so we can follow up on issues. Oftentimes that’s the best way for us to know where to direct attention and resources.”
Possibility of protests
The two pro-Palestinian protests in Oakland that turned into encampments this spring and more than 30 other protests during the course of the 2023-24 school year have raised awareness about these types of actions. With Israel’s attacks on Gaza continuing, it’s likely this issue isn’t going away, and then add to that what is expected to be a contentious election season this fall.
Lamb said her officers have done some mobile field force training over the summer, as well as some online First Amendment training.
Pitt has long had a policy on protests and demonstrations, and Pitt-related groups can apply to hold actions on Pitt property. The University recently gathered information about this policy and others related to free speech on a new website, freespeech.pitt.edu.
If the protest is on city streets or sidewalks, then organizers need to apply for a permit with the city.
“We try our hardest to enable people to be able to have free speech and be able to assemble, and are willing to work with people in that regard,” Fritz said. “But where it starts interfering with classes, or it becomes violent, is the point that we certainly have to draw the line. But it’s important to us to allow people to protest. It’s their right, and I think it’s healthy.”
Lamb echoed his comments: “As far as demonstrations and protests, they’re all acceptable, as long as they’re nonviolent. We as a department try to establish a relationship with the event organizer prior to their protest or demonstration going on. And we try to plan ahead as much as we can with our counterparts within the city.”
If a protest is on the street and disrupting traffic in Oakland, Lamb said the role of Pitt Police is to “get messaging out so our community knows what’s going on.” Then they monitor the situation, which is then under city police control.
“If they begin to move on campus, then we’ll have to figure out what we’re going to do from there,” she said. Fritz stressed this is a decision that involves several people in senior leadership.
Police were the target of some taunting by protesters, particularly at the encampment on on the Cathedral lawn in June. “We try to spread the word to just be patient and know what’s going on around you,” Lamb said. “It’s hard for the officers, I will say that. But they did a great job. Every one of them did a phenomenal job.”
“You don’t know everybody’s intentions,” Fritz said, noting that counter protesters also can be present. “Just because somebody’s there, doesn’t mean they’re there all for the same reasons. And so you have to be very observant about that, and try and make sure that you quell at the outset any kind of dissension between groups.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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