Campuses Look To Improve Safety Security Officials Discuss Ways To Help International Students

After two recent abductions of Japanese students in Spokane, local colleges and universities are working together to ensure the safety of the more than 1,100 international students in the area.

About 20 people from area schools met for 2-1/2 hours at Whitworth College on Wednesday to discuss what each institution was doing for its students and what more needs to be done together.

The gathering was part of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Western Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, a group of local campus police and security leaders who have met monthly for the past two years. Members of the Spokane Police Department started attending the meetings about eight months ago.

This time, the group invited international student advisers from six area schools, including Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute.

“It was very productive,” said Tom McGill, Eastern Washington University’s police chief. “We learned a lot.”

The group watched a video usually shown to international students as part of their safety orientation. The video, produced in 1995 by the Spokane Police Department and Gonzaga University, gave students advice - from locking doors and hiding valuables to recognizing street gangs and ignoring their hand signs.

It talked about Spokane’s community-oriented policing and how international students can “trust law enforcement officers in this country.” According to the video, Spokane police officers are trained to deal with people whose first language isn’t English.

The three-segment video, which lasts about 10 minutes, also discussed traffic safety and how to prevent theft.

Those attending the meeting talked about updating the video, said Jeffery Hart, Gonzaga’s director of campus security. They hope to add a segment on bus safety and issues surrounding driving responsibilities.

They also hope to give all international students a “help card,” which would contain the student’s name, school, primary language and phone numbers. International students at EWU already have such cards.

Meeting participants said they want to start an awareness campaign about international students that would target police, bus drivers and other public service providers who interact with students.