The University of Georgia is spending $7.3 million to bolster security on the Athens campus.
The university says the initiatives include new signs and perimeter fencing, lighting upgrades, emergency call stations and automatic license plate readers.
The campus also will have more uniformed personnel, including a new unit of Campus Safety Ambassadors, who will augment the efforts of campus police by serving as student escorts and providing extra “eyes and ears” across campus during evening hours.
The security upgrades come several months after a 22-year-old woman was killed while jogging on the Athens campus. Laken Riley was a nursing student at the Augusta College Collee of Nursing. Jose Ibarra, 26, has been charged with murder in the killing.
In the last eight years, the university has spent more than $23 million on security enhancements, officials said in a news release.
Campus Safety Ambassadors began working on campus in June. They will provide an after-hours presence in areas in which students often walk and congregate on campus. The ambassadors also can escort students to their housing and other locations on campus as they walk back from student events or studying; they will have radio communications with police personnel in the event of an emergency.
Lighting has been upgraded along crosswalks, particularly near residence halls with high foot traffic. In addition, nearly 400 lights on campus are being converted to LED technology, which produces a much brighter light at night.
The university also has begun installing the first of 20 automated license plate readers on campus. This system of sensors will work in conjunction with the existing Campus Safety Camera System (CSCS) to provide an additional technological resource for police investigating crimes
Emergency call boxes with cameras are being added to sites throughout campus, and perimeter fencing is being erected in several sections of campus.
