The Department of Public Safety and Police is responsible for all law enforcement, parking, and emergency management services for the Hampden-Sydney College community.
Law enforcement services are provided to the campus with twenty-four hour law enforcement service and coverage, seven days a week.Police officers patrol the campus in vehicles, on bicycles, or on foot. All police officers are first responders and have been trained in emergency medical procedures, to include CPR and AED. Each patrol vehicle contains an emergency trauma kit, a blood-born pathogen kit, and an automated external defibrillator. Our police officers are often the first to arrive at medical and fire emergencies on campus and the immediate surrounding area and are well trained and equipped to take action.
Police officers provide a variety of other services to the Hampden-Sydney community. They may be contacted to unlock rooms when Resident Advisors are unavailable and are available to assist motorist with vehicle jump starts. Crime prevention programming and information on a variety of other topics is available through the Department.
The Department is responsible for maintaining the peace and enforcing the Code of Virginia on campus. Police officers work hard to prevent crime and are responsible for responding to and investigating all incidents of crime and College policy violations. All police officers are sworn police officers, certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The police officers receive training at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The Department works cooperatively with the Virginia Department of State Police, Prince Edward County Sheriff's Office, Farmville Police Department, and Longwood University Police Department and has entered into mutual aid agreements with each.
Fire Safety services are provided to the community by the Physical Plant. The staff is responsible for conducting inspections of fire suppression systems in residential, academic and public use buildings and to perform life safety equipment inspections throughout the campus. They provide educational programs to the community and enforce the fire code and College policy to promote fire safety.
The College emergency management services has developed an Critical Incident Management Plan (CIMP) and actively participates in tabletop, functional, and full scale exercises to ensure that the College and its Incident Management Team (IMT) are prepared to respond to and recover from all hazardous incidents. The plan is maintained by the Emergency Management Coordinator and is updated regularly. The College maintains a robust Emergency Notification System (ENS) to alert and keep the community informed of hazards.
