Jurisdiction

The Director of Public Safety oversees and coordinates the safety and security needs of the campus. The Director of Public Safety reports to the Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services and is the administrative office responsible for campus security.

Public safety officers have the right to restrain and detain any individual on campus who is involved in a wrongdoing if the situation warrants it. The public safety officers do have the power of arrest. This power is given to them by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Rules 3, 65, and 133 of the Rules of Criminal Procedures. The arrest power lies under the heading of a “Private Complaint.”

Officers in the Department of Public Safety are trained on a continuous basis. The training includes CPR certification, knowledge in basic first aid, defensive tactics techniques, MOAB (Management of Aggressive Behavior), and Act 235, the Lethal Weapons Training Act. The Lethal Weapons Training Act’s purpose is to provide for the education, training and certification of privately employed agents who, as an incidence to their employment, carry lethal weapons through a program administered or approved by the commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Student Collaboration for Safety

The Department of Public Safety also utilizes the criminal justice students at the college as student patrol. The members of the student patrol assist the uniformed officers in the patrolling of the campus, issuing of parking citations, and any other situations that may arise. The student patrols are given an introduction lesson to their function prior to actual duty. This adds to our efforts to ensure a safe and secure learning environment.

Collaboration with Law Enforcement Agencies

The Department of Public Safety maintains a professional relationship with the Pennsylvania State Police. A Memorandum of Understanding with the Pennsylvania State Police exists to allow state police officers to respond to the LCCC Schnecksville campus. Since the main college campus lies within their jurisdiction, they are summoned whenever a situation requires their attention. The satellite sites of Lehigh Carbon Community College fall within the jurisdiction of the local municipal police department of that area. The satellite sites of the college include, but are not limited to, the following: the downtown LCCC Allentown site at the Donley Center, the LCCC Tamaqua at the Morgan Center; and classes that are offered at various high schools within the sponsoring districts. The Department of Public Safety maintains a professional relationship with all local law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction for those sites.