Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

For over a decade, Central Michigan University’s police department and Facilities Management have designated one night each year to walk the Mt. Pleasant campus to assess exterior lighting for safety. The event was halted during the pandemic but returned this week and expanded its scope beyond just lighting.

CMUPD and Facilities Management invited representatives from Student Affairs, Residence Life, Student Disability Services, Information Technology and CMU’s President to join them on the walk. Students from CMU’s Student Government Association and Residence Hall Association also participated.

The goal is to hear student concerns and identify areas where safety can improve. In addition to lighting, they looked for potential safety concerns involving vegetation, cameras, electronic access control and more. 

“It is important to understand how students feel about campus safety, as well as where we have opportunities to improve,” said CMU Police Lt. Mike Sienkiewicz, who led this year’s safety walk. “Our students are walking our campus day and night, and listening to their feedback is critical to improve a culture of campus safety.

Lt. Sienkiewicz said CMU adheres to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles in designing and maintaining spaces on campus. He said CPTED uses the concept of “natural surveillance” through the design of windows, lighting, and landscaping.

“It means people feel safer when they can be seen by others naturally in the environment, and conversely, potential criminals are less likely to commit crimes when there is a risk of being seen by others,” Sienkiewicz said.   

A practical example is maintaining shrubbery low to the ground and trimming tree canopies up higher to eliminate areas for people to hide and for pedestrians to see potential problems far enough in advance to avoid them.

Sienkiewicz said students feeling safe on campus is a critical factor in their overall success. He said CMU is always looking for ways to make an already safe campus feel even safer, and the campus safety night walk is one way to do that.

“Safety is very multi-faceted, and many people don’t understand what happens behind the scenes to keep campus safe,” Sienkiewicz said. “This is our opportunity to show the students what we have done and get their feedback as we look to make improvements in the future.”