Cops on Top for Special Olympics

SSPO 22nd academy

Congratulations to Officer Jesse Ritter and Officer Bruno Duarte who graduated this past June from the Special State Police Academy. Officer Duarte received two awards, one for Fitness and then the Troopers surprised him with the 110% award.

Meet Earl Brown

Outreach Officer, Department of Public Safety

Expect to see Earl Brown around campus. Brown was recently named community outreach officer for the Department of Public Safety, a position designed to work with the college community on crime prevention programming. Like all public safety personnel at the college, Brown will serve all three campuses—Smith, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges—within the public safety collaborative.

He recently responded to questions for the Gate.

Gate: Where are you from? How long have you been a Public Safety Officer and what attracted you to the position?

Earl Brown: I live in Springfield and I have been employed with the Department of Public Safety for a little over two years. What brought me to the department is the opportunity to give something back to the community and, most importantly, to young adults. I always felt that police officers played an important role in a community, and it is important to work together with the community that we protect. This is what attracted me to working for the department. The opportunity to reach out to the students and increase their awareness, listen to their concerns and work with them toward a solution.

Gate: What is your role as outreach officer?

EB: My role is to bridge the gap in communication between the student body and the Public Safety department—to increase student awareness regarding safety and to work with students in keeping their college community a safe learning environment. I will be a positive resource to whom they may come with any issues or concerns.

Gate: What do you plan to do first as the outreach officer?

EB: The first thing I plan to do is have a “meet and greet” on the Smith campus. I would like the opportunity to meet the campus community and for them to meet me as well. I will work to put programs into place where officers will have even more of a chance for relationship building with the student body.

Please contact Brown if there are activities, meetings or events you would like him to join. The best way to reach him is by e-mail, ebrown3@smith.edu.

Public Safety
2009-2010

As of May 3, 2010

Awards Presented in the Spring of 2010

Community Awards (plaque awarded)
- MHC's president Joanne Creighton as she retires

- Doug Vanderpoel who was instrumental in setting up the technology to allow our central dispatch center to become a reality

- MHC's Dean of Students Liz Braun on her departure from MHC

Lifesaving Awards (framed citation & uniform ribbon)
- Officers Scott Pospolita, John Wagner, and Steaphan Mish (Northampton fire)

- Officer Megan Smith (medical emergency for student)

Recognition Award (framed citation)
- Frank Rogala, Jeff Wojcik & Josh Dufresne for locating and arresting a level 3 sex offender who was following students on the MHC campus

- MHC Human Resources office for all the work they did to help get employees benefits, on the payroll, and administratively added to the MHC payroll for the collaboration

- Central Dispatch staff for their efforts in making the central dispatch area successful

- Juan Rivera & Jesse Ritter for responding to an MHC student attempting suicide and likely thwarting her efforts

- Juan Rivera for assisting Belchertown PD in locating an MHC student who was possibly suicidal by contacting her cell provider to ping her cell phone to locate her in the woods

- Seth Irwin for responding to and dousing a fire in a residence hall at Hampshire

- Megan Smith for assisting a student who had taken 30 pills and was drifting out of consciousness by keeping her awake until an ambulance was able to respond

New Director

We are delighted to Welcome Robert Smith to our community as Director of Public Safety beginning Wednesday, October 13, 2010. In this position, Bob will be responsible for providing leadership and direction for our three College Public Safety Department, which was established in July 2009 and which provides Public Safety services for the Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College communities.

The Fleet Office has moved, but not far. The office is now a part of Auxiliary Services, and is located down below Public Safety in 109 Central Services.

Protecting your credit

Protecting Your Credit

With recent incidents involving credit card fraud, we thought we would take a moment to remind everyone about steps you can take to protect your credit.

Preventing Credit Fraud

1) Always keep your credit card in a secure location.

2) Be sure to keep contact information for your credit card company in a secure location separate from your credit cards; this way if your card is stolen you can contact your company more quickly. This information may also be online or on your most recent statement.

3) Always carefully review your statement. If your statement is sent to your home address, make sure someone there knows what charges you made so they can be sure there are no illegitimate charges.

4) Sign up for online access to your credit card statement and check it even more frequently. It doesn’t take more than a couple of hours for someone to use your credit card information to make thousands of dollars worth of charges.

5) Secure your mail; do not leave your credit card statement unattended to reduce the chance someone may use it to obtain your account information.

6) Beware of scams; never release your credit card information to anyone unless you are dealing with them on legitimate business. Many scammers send emails claiming that your account has been violated; credit card companies will not send you an email if this occurs.

7) If you receive a call from someone claiming to represent your credit card company, do not give out your personal data; ask them enough questions to determine that they truly represent your company. For example, ask for the address registered with the account they are calling with, some or all of the credit card number, and other information which validates the person calling as a representative for your credit card company.

What to do if Your Information is Compromised

1) Notify your credit card immediately if you notice any charges on your credit card that you did not make. The sooner you notify the company, the easier it is for them to shut down your card to prevent further charges and to help you get that charge off your account.

2) Occasionally credit card information can be stolen from a credit company or from a business from which you have made purchases. Those companies are required to notify you and correct the problem.

3) Contact one of the credit reporting agencies; they can provide you with a copy of your credit report and put a fraud alert on your accounts:

· Equifax: Call (800) 525-6285. TDD: (800) 255-0056
· TransUnion: Call (800) 680-7289. TDD: (877) 553-7803. Fraud victims can also email fvad@transunion.com
· Experian: Call (888) 397-3742

Some websites offering more tips include:

· http://oit.ncsu.edu/safe-computing/id-theft-minimize#bank

· http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

· http://www.identitytheft.org/

· http://www.idtheftcenter.org/