By CONNER WILLIAMS Freelancer
After an eight-month vacancy, the position of Director of Campus Public Safety and
Risk Management has been filled. Rebecca Chiles will oversee risk management for the campus and insurance claims as well.
“It lets the office get back to normal. Allen Riesen, the interim director, had his hands filled with multiple responsibilities, so it is great to have this position filled by an experienced officer who can focus her time on the daily duties of operating the CPS office,” Officer Brian Binnell said.
Chiles previously served as director of police services at Louisiana State University Shreveport for eight years from 2006 to 2014, and she possesses 18 years of public safety experience.
She started out at the University of Arkansas as a patrol officer in 1996, and
then transferred to Southern Arkansas University, where she served from 2001 to 2006, and eventually moved up to the position of lieutenant.
The environment at SAU is similar to that of Western: it is a small college town
with about the same student population.
The public safety system is a bit different where she is from, however.
There is no designated campus police, but rather a police department devoted to a
college campus. The process of working with a separate police department is a relatively new one, but Chiles stated that it is all about communication.
From the coordination between Monmouth Police Department and the Western CPS to students being able to converse efficiently with both departments, communication
is the key component in the overall safety of the community.
“We hope that students can start to develop a rapport with their CPS officers because the main goal for everyone is safety,” Chiles said.
She advises that students should always take general safety and theft-prevention
precautions, such as using the paw print walkways at night, and always making
sure to lock up personal items or keep them on-hand.
Chiles plans to send out frequent general safety newsletters at least once or
twice per term, as a reminder for students to ensure they take general preventative measurements to deter and prevent crime.
She said she wants to create and monitor a CPS social media page in which students
can receive updates and general safety news.
“Let’s make sure we’ve got the safest possible campus we can have,” Chiles said.
“The main thing is that we are here for the overall safety of the WOU community.”
