New officer recruits could increase campus security

NEWS – The Signal Georgia State police officers work closely with APD since they’re able to access more Atlanta areas like student housing.
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Georgia State and the Atlanta Police are recruiting new officers to bolster Atlanta’s security.
The Atlanta Police Department’s (APD) authorized strength has been depleted by 150 officers, according to recent Atlanta Police retiree and new Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) Chief Joseph Spillane.
“Retirements, resignations and terminations have seen the number of sworn officers drop from a high of 2,034 to 1,884,” Spillane said.
The hires are just the beginning Spillane said in SGA’s campus safety forum Feb. 23, as there will be more officers soon located by Turner Field as well as the university becomes more active in that part of town.
“Once [student] housing moves over there, we will have people there full time,” Spillane said, adding that he hopes to soon have a Wellness Center by Turner Field to keep police officers in shape.
Spillane and Major Scott Kreher of the Atlanta Police Zone Five have worked on numerous details together to keep the campus, as well as the rest of the city safe. Georgia State’s police covers 500 yards from any building leased or owned by the university. This allows university police to share concurrent jurisdiction with APD, thus the newly formed partnership.
The first major collaboration of the departments came after the One12 incident, where a student was shot during a robbery gone wrong. The facility falls under the jurisdiction of Zone Five, but Chief Spillane has met with Atlanta Police to keep the area around the apartment secure.
Spillane further said that residents have complained about security guard stations not being filled, and both departments found weaknesses in the facility’s safety system like doors being open when they were supposed to be closed, and security guards missing from their stations which ...


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