Units | Communications | Investigations | Patrol | Records | Training |

Communications Unit

The Mission of the Communications Unit is to provide expedient and courteous service in a professional and proficient manner to students, Faculty & Staff, visitors, police officers, supervisors, departmental employees, and other Law Enforcement and Security Personnel. The Communications Unit is responsible for receiving and relaying all related data of calls for service for Emergency and Non-Emergency incidents which occur within the jurisdiction of the Clark Atlanta University Police and agencies that have joint jurisdiction on the surrounding streets.

The Communications Unit maintains communication over emergency and administrative telephone lines, call boxes, as well as monitoring over 60 CCTV cameras throughout the campus. With a staff of ten (4) communications officers and one (4) camera monitors and (1) communication supervisor our communication's unit provides service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In addition to the telephone system, the communications unit utilizes a Motorola transmitting system, a total recall digital voice recording unit, (4) Pelco DX8000 digital video recording units and also the Criminal Justice Information System Network to access GCIC/NCIC files. The communications supervisor also serves as the Terminal Agency Coordinator (TAC) for the department, and provides to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) a monthly statistical of crime on the Clark Atlanta University campus.

Pedro Alvarez, CommunicationsSupervisor

Investigations Unit

The Investigations Unit is commanded by the Major and includes two investigators.The Investigations Unit is responsible for investigating crimes, following up on reports initiated by the Patrol Unit for every criminal case reported to the Clark Atlanta University Police Department. Every complainant is contacted, no matter how minor the offense, to determine if any other pertinent information is available on the case and to insure the complainant still wishes to file charges. Each reported criminal incident is assigned to an investigator. These assignments consist of working crime scenes, conducting interviews and processing charges. Also, to access areas on campus that may be experiencing an unusually high number of reported criminal activities, to target those areas for "special attention."

The Investigations Unit is also responsible for conducting background investigations on all potential applicants for the Clark Atlanta University Police Department.

Patrol Unit

The patrol function is the strongest and most visible asset of the Department. The principal duties of an officer while on patrol are to prevent violations of the law, enforce rules of the University, check for suspicious persons, and give aid assistance, and information to persons in the campus community as circumstances require.

Police Officers patrol the campus by vehicle, bike and on foot twenty-four hours per day. While on foot patrol, attention is primarily devoted to the buildings and the activities around and in them. On vehicle patrol, this attention is redirected to the parking areas and campus properties on the perimeter of the campus and any activities around or in them. The bike patrol focuses its attention to the campus, parking areas, and surrounding community. The officer on foot patrol is utilized to monitor pedestrian traffic throughout the campus and to secure areas at specified times. The officer on foot patrol is also responsible for checking these buildings for fire safety/ hazards, suspicious persons, unsecured offices. The vehicle patrol officer will also perform these duties for the buildings on the fringes the campus.

Officers of the Department of Public Safety enforce Georgia Traffic Laws while on patrol. Violations of traffic and state laws are cited with Uniform Traffic Citations which are processed by City Of Atlanta Municipal Court and the Fulton County Justice Center.

The Department of Public Safety shares the responsibility for the patrol of the city streets around Clark Atlanta University with the city of Atlanta Police Department (as a result of this Department's certification as a Police Department and the subsequent passage of state legislation in April 1984 extending jurisdictional boundaries of this department five-hundred (500) yards in any direction). All police officers are certified by the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.).

Records Unit

The Clark Atlanta University Police Records unit is responsible for maintenance of all incident reports which occur within the Clark Atlanta University jurisdiction. Administrative personnel distribute and release Incident/Accident reports upon request and maintain a record of released reports.One may obtain a copy of an Incident/Accident report by coming in person to the Clark Atlanta University Police Department, in the Tanner Turner Building between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Please allow five business days for processing of reports.

Training Unit

The Training Unit is a unit of the Patrol Bureau and focuses its attention on the following three categories:

• Basic/Orientation Training
• In-Service Training
• Advanced Training

Basic Orientation Training is a two hundred twenty (240/160) hour orientation program for each new officer. This includes 80 hours of administrative training and one-hundred sixty (160) hours hands on training for police and 80 hours for Public Safety Officer.Along with orientation training police officer must complete Basic Mandate Training of 420 hours which is held at Fulton County Police Academy.