U. announces chief safety officer, nearly $1M in other new safety measures


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SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah officials on Thursday announced a nearly $1 million investment in new campus safety measures that will be implemented as part of a response to last year’s murder of U. student Lauren McCluskey.

Among the safety measures U. President Ruth Watkins has approved is the hiring of a chief safety officer, who will coordinate and supervise campus safety, according to a news release from the university.

“Safety is a top priority for our campus and this committee brought forward many good ideas,” Watkins said in the release. “We are determined to make this institution as safe as it can be.”

Watkins has accepted a total of 30 recommendations from a campus safety task force, which met between December and June, according to the release.

The U. will invest $925,000 to implement the group’s recommendations, and other campus entities will be investing another $5.9 million.

Other recommendations include making parking more available to students in the evening hours close to buildings that are used at night, such as libraries. Student parking will be available after 3 p.m. in lots near the Marriott Library, Eccles Library and the Student Union, according to the release.

Evening classes will also be clustered together, and the class blocks will correspond with campus transit, courtesy escorts and security patrols, the release states.

Emergency mass communications systems on campus also will be expanded and will allow messages to be communicated within buildings, through desktop computers and landline telephones, and broadcast across the campus.

More self-defense training workshops will be offered on campus. The university will hire a third-party consulting firm which will assess security in all campus buildings and their physical surroundings, the release states.

The full list of task force recommendations can be found by visiting unews.utah.edu. The recommendations from the task force are different from another 30 improvements that were made after an independent review of the university’s response to the Lauren McCluskey case.

In February, the U. launched a website that lists the status of the 30 recommendations from the independent review team.

McCluskey, 21, was killed Oct. 22, 2018 near her campus dorm by 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, a man she had dated about a month before her death. Authorities found Rowland dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound several hours after McCluskey was killed.

McCluskey’s family contends that Rowland lied about his age, name and background while dating Lauren. After she stopped dating Rowland, she sought help from U. police when he continued harassing her. But the U.’s response to McCluskey’s requests was not adequate, the family has said.

McCluskey’s family, as well as the general public, heavily criticized the U. and the university’s police force in the months following McCluskey’s death.

Lauren McCluskey’s parents, Jill and Matt McCluskey, are currently pursuing a lawsuit for $56 million against the university, alleging that U. police ignored Lauren’s multiple complaints of abuse and harassment about Rowland.

Thursday, Jill McCluskey told KSL.com that she and Matt applaud campus safety investment. But she said the U.'s announcement doesn't address what she sees as the real problem that led to her daughter's death — a lack of response from police to Lauren's repeated requests for help.

"None of these investments in safety will change the culture," Jill McCluskey said in an email. "For real change to occur, the University of Utah needs to hold people accountable. They must take responsibility for what happened."

No U. police officers were fired after Lauren McCluskey's death, although Chief Dale Brophy announced last month he will retire in October.

U. officials hope the new recommendations will not only improve safety for students, but also will start rebuilding the campus’s reputation as a safe place.

“These actions will advance our efforts to build a culture of safety at the U,” Michele Ballantyne, a co-chair of the campus safety task force, said in the release. “Most important, they will result in tangible changes that benefit everyone, especially students.”

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