Welcome to the Department of Public Safety
On behalf of the Utah State University Department of Public Safety I am pleased to welcome you to our web page. It is our desire to be an integral part of the USU campus. We seek to be a user-friendly department and to build a relationship of mutual trust and respect with students, faculty and staff. We know that we cannot meet our mission without the cooperation of the citizens of this campus. We are all responsible to ensure that our valuables are secure and that crime and suspicious incidents are reported in a timely manner. It is imperative that we work together to identify and resolve problems that lead to crime or the fear of crime.
The Utah State University Police Department was established in 1981 with a total of nine police officers. In 1983 the Logan City Fire Department removed its substation from campus. The USU Police Department was increased to 11 police officers in the resulting organization change that placed the Fire Marshal's office under the direction of the police department and moved the responsibility for fire alarm response to the police officers. In 1986, due to budget cuts, the University Police Department lost one police officer position. In 1996 the position lost in 1986 was restored, plus funds were allocated to create a community police officer position. The USU Police Department currently consists of 12 full-time police officers.
On July 1, 2001, USU Police and USU Parking and Transportation Department merged and formed 8 divisions; Investigations, Patrol, Security/Dispatch, Emergency Management, Fire Marshals, Parking, Transportation and Keys. In 2003 the key control function was transferred to Facilities. In March 2006, the department was changed to the official title of Public Safety including following departments: Police, Fire Marshal, Emergency Management, and Parking and Transportation Services. In April 2007 Parking and Transportation Services was removed from Public Safety and established as a part of the Auxiliary Services team.
I am proud of our staff of certified police officers, qualified fire marshals, support staff, and student employees. Each is dedicated to providing a campus where individuals can feel safe in their pursuit of education, research, employment and recreation. I hope that as you browse our web site you will find information that will be of interest and help while you are at Utah State University.
We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact me.
Steven J. Mecham
Executive Director of Public Safety/Police Chief