New
Safety Outpost
to Bolster Loyola's
Security
BY ANGELA CAPUTO STAFF WRITER
Pioneer Press
Loyola University's new police force plans to beef up security on Granville by opening a public safety outpost and adding a 24-hour surveillance camera under the Red Line L stop next week.
The university security team recently transitioned to a full-fledged police department comprised of eight armed officers. Now with the same authority as sworn police, campus officers will be able to make arrests on Granville like other areas that hug the borders of the Rogers Park and downtown campuses, Loyola's Director of Campus Safety Bernard Ward said.
The timing of the new station, 1113 W. Granville Ave., opening and the newly-established police force are merely coincidental. For a couple years the university has been negotiating with the CTA to lease the space, a university spokeswoman said. But the two are coming together in an effort "that brings the Loyola Police Department right into our community," Ward said.
With Loyola expanding south--residence halls and faculty housing are increasingly sweeping down the Winthrop and Kenmore corridors--making campus police more visible near Granville is an important security strategy, Ward said.
And so is establishing a stronger overall police presence along the stretch, which is why the doors of the new security outpost will be open to the Chicago officers, who still have the primary responsibility of patrolling the area.
Local beat patrols and other police assigned to transit detail will be able to swipe in and have a space to write reports, use the phone or warm up in the winter months.
Officers won't be at the station around the clock. But Loyola students will be able to get in at any time by swiping their student IDs in case they need to get out of a dicey situation. An emergency phone connected to 9-1-1 will be also posted inside for students and along the street for passerby's in the neighborhood.
Officers might not be visible at all times but that doesn't mean that they won't have a constant eye on the area, Ward said.
Surveillance cameras, both inside and panning the area in front of the station, will be able to capture activity all the way down the block to the corner of Winthrop. Security officers at Loyola will monitor that equipment in real-time, according to Ward.
In time, those cameras won't pan the area alone. Tax dollars collected through a Special Service Area have already been committed to 10 additional security cameras. The hold-up in mounting that equipment, SSA Manager Tom Jerome who works with the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce said, is getting the go-ahead from the CTA.
Safety Outpost
to Bolster Loyola's
Security
BY ANGELA CAPUTO STAFF WRITER
Pioneer Press
Loyola University's new police force plans to beef up security on Granville by opening a public safety outpost and adding a 24-hour surveillance camera under the Red Line L stop next week.
The university security team recently transitioned to a full-fledged police department comprised of eight armed officers. Now with the same authority as sworn police, campus officers will be able to make arrests on Granville like other areas that hug the borders of the Rogers Park and downtown campuses, Loyola's Director of Campus Safety Bernard Ward said.
The timing of the new station, 1113 W. Granville Ave., opening and the newly-established police force are merely coincidental. For a couple years the university has been negotiating with the CTA to lease the space, a university spokeswoman said. But the two are coming together in an effort "that brings the Loyola Police Department right into our community," Ward said.
With Loyola expanding south--residence halls and faculty housing are increasingly sweeping down the Winthrop and Kenmore corridors--making campus police more visible near Granville is an important security strategy, Ward said.
And so is establishing a stronger overall police presence along the stretch, which is why the doors of the new security outpost will be open to the Chicago officers, who still have the primary responsibility of patrolling the area.
Local beat patrols and other police assigned to transit detail will be able to swipe in and have a space to write reports, use the phone or warm up in the winter months.
Officers won't be at the station around the clock. But Loyola students will be able to get in at any time by swiping their student IDs in case they need to get out of a dicey situation. An emergency phone connected to 9-1-1 will be also posted inside for students and along the street for passerby's in the neighborhood.
Officers might not be visible at all times but that doesn't mean that they won't have a constant eye on the area, Ward said.
Surveillance cameras, both inside and panning the area in front of the station, will be able to capture activity all the way down the block to the corner of Winthrop. Security officers at Loyola will monitor that equipment in real-time, according to Ward.
In time, those cameras won't pan the area alone. Tax dollars collected through a Special Service Area have already been committed to 10 additional security cameras. The hold-up in mounting that equipment, SSA Manager Tom Jerome who works with the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce said, is getting the go-ahead from the CTA.
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