Q&A: What to Know about Staying Safe on UGA’s Campus

Jeff Hammock thinks of his own family in his role as the deputy chief of community engagement and professional standards at the University of Georgia Police Department. One reason is because his son is a UGA student.

Hammock provided tips for staying safe on campus with UGA students to ensure adequate safety measures on campus, while also encouraging students to take individual safety initiatives. He discussed his experience as deputy chief and UGA’s safety challenges during an interview in September.

Q: What are some of the biggest safety concerns for incoming students?

A: Athens is a safe place. Campus is a safe place. Just like anywhere else, wherever you happen to be coming from, crime can happen, no matter where you’re at. When you’re walking around, be aware of your surroundings, take note of what’s around. If something seems out of place, then call us and let us know, we’ll go check it out. If it’s at nighttime and you’re out walking, walk in a group, you know what I’m saying? If you get separated from your group, find a different group. Another thing I like to harp on is: lock your doors … you never know when someone is going to be walking through … who might walk in and help themselves. These are things that can make a huge difference. 

Q: How have you seen UGA police automatically adapt to public safety issues?

A: Obviously, technology is a major way we do that. So when I started in 2006, camera coverage around campus was not nearly what we have today … but we have so many more cameras now that are instrumental in both being able to monitor things like traffic, just everyday traffic where we can make some adjustments, to make it easier for traffic after special events like football games. We also help our investigators respond and investigations like thefts and other things that they’re doing to help positive outcomes for those things like emergency power stations are great. Other technologies like, we have “shot spotter” so if there’s a gunshot on campus in the area, it will give an alert. It’ll triangulate to where it’s at and tell us, “Hey, there’s something we’ve identified as a gunshot,” so we can go respond. 

Q: You mentioned that you have a child that’s a freshman here. Has that changed your approach to your role?

A: I’ve always wanted to create the safest environment I can for our community and our students. It’s a little different knowing that my kid is one of those students, so when the alerts go out, you know it does hit a little differently and it does make me see things differently. It also makes me proud of where we’re at and the police department that we have … I’m trying to make it the police department that I want my kids to have have, who I want my wife to have, or that I want my niece and my nephew to have … that’s kind of what drives me with my decision-making and how I approach things on a daily basis. 

Comments edited for length and clarity.