In the past month, USC has experienced multiple safety threats to campus: Leavey and Doheny Memorial Library both received bomb threats on Sept. 7, and on Sept. 10,  Black students at USC as well as other universities across the United States received threatening text messages. In the wake of the text messages, students told the Daily Trojan it felt “disheartening” that there was not much clarity on how the Department of Public Safety handled these threats.

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Patrick Prince, the assistant vice president of threat assessment and management, said that one of the current challenges DPS is facing is an “unbelievable” increase in swatting and false active shooter reports. Prince said that although students wanted to be notified about all potential threats, false alarms could spark unnecessary panic and copycat threats.  

“What we try to do is just ensure — to the best of our ability — that we have accurate information, we have complete information, and then we assess the potential risk to our community,” Prince said. “If we notify and we create lockdown, we create these responses when there is no threat. Then it actually empowers folks to do it more, and we create more risk for our community.”

DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said the threat assessment team at USC utilizes tools such as data mining, social media monitoring and communication with federal investigators to assess the legitimacy of threats. If a threat is identified as legitimate, DPS creates a situation-specific intervention plan, according to Prince. 

“We want to create an intervention that is specific to that risk. We don’t want to make it worse,” Prince said. “How do we intervene? Do we engage with local law enforcement? Do we enhance our own campus security measures? Do we reach out to the person and try to redirect them from that pathway to violence? We have just a robust menu of options.” 

Carlisle said the department had a “layered” security strategy, which included communicating with other universities about potential threats and staying abreast of political demonstrations. 

“DPS is probably one of the largest campus safety departments in the nation. We have nearly 300 full-time personnel, including 100 armed officers,” Carlisle said. “Not only do you have DPS officers patrolling 24/7 on and off campus, we have LAPD also in the area … and we have a robust camera surveillance system.”

Chutitad Singkarin, a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering, said while he didn’t feel completely safe at USC, he felt that DPS was very attentive to the student body’s needs.

“I think [DPS is] doing great, actually, because I saw a lot of DPS walk around, and they always help us with everything. Whenever we need [help], we have the resources,” SingkKarin said. “We can even walk [to them], or talk to them, or email them, or call them whenever we need to.”

Annabelle Forbes, a freshman majoring in neuroscience, said she was concerned that ID checks seemed inconsistent. Forbes said she recalled seeing DPS take a photo of a non-USC affiliate and then allowing him to “wander around campus.”

Connor Nanus, a freshman majoring in themed entertainment, said that, while he wants more regulation on weapon violence on an executive level, he expressed confidence in the way DPS responds to issues on campus. 

“At USC, I feel like DPS is great. They’ve handled everything on campus pretty well, and I know we’ve done so for many years,” Nanus said.

Angel Bonilla, a senior majoring in accounting, said that while he still wished DPS would communicate threats more quickly, he took comfort in knowing that incidents are carefully evaluated behind the scenes. He said he felt “relatively comfortable” with the current system, adding that, in his view, DPS has maintained a consistent track record of keeping USC safe over the years. 

Prince said that contacting DPS is “the best first step” if students feel unsafe on campus, and that student communication with DPS is an essential part of keeping campus safe.  

“If we don’t have a lot of folks coming in and sharing stuff [even] where there isn’t a risk, we’re going to miss the one that really is,” Prince said. “If there’s one message I’d like students to know, [it’s this:] if somebody has a concern, reach out. We will work with anybody, anytime. Contacting DPS is always the best first step.”