The University of Arizona has named an interim chief safety officer and set up a new safety advisory commission, two weeks after a report said its lack of safety measures led up to the fatal shooting of a professor last year.
UA President Robert Robbins said Friday that Steve Patterson, a recently retired Tucson-based FBI agent, will serve as interim chief safety officer while the university conducts a nationwide search.
“We have a lot of work to do here,” Patterson said. “The overarching theme is commitment to the institution, building trust, and making sure everybody feels safer.”
PAX, LLC, a consulting firm the UA hired, released a 205-page report last month that listed 33 recommendations to improve the university’s safety protocols. The steps Robbins announced Friday were among the recommendations.
The UA hired the firm after Thomas Meixner, head of the UA’s Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Department, was shot and killed on campus on Oct. 5. Murad Dervish, who was arrested in the killing and is charged with first-degree murder, was a former graduate student who was expelled in early 2022 after records show he continually harassed and sent threats to Meixner and his colleagues.
As chief safety officer, Patterson is in charge of carrying out the PAX report’s recommendations and coordinating safety initiatives across the university, reporting directly to Robbins.
Starting May 1, the University of Arizona Police Department will report to Patterson instead of to the Department of Business Affairs.
“This move best aligns with our safety and security objectives and will enable specialized support for UAPD,” Robbins said. “I am confident that this change will result in an enhanced safety for our community, which is our overarching primary goal. The new reporting structure will both elevate safety operations within the university and enable us to better coordinate and streamline our communications and responses.”
Robbins said Patterson will also oversee UA’s new Safety Advisory Commission. The commission will be made up of community members and campus representatives, including faculty who served on the General Faculty Committee on University Safety for All.
The commission will advise Patterson on enacting all of the consultants’ report’s recommendations, Robbins has said.
How threats will be investigated
In a media briefing Friday, Robbins was asked how threats will be investigated. The PAX report said the UA’s Threat Assessment Management Team inadequately responded to the reported threats from Dervish and did not have a designated team lead or a consistent process to address statements.
Patterson, who now oversees the Threat Assessment Management Team, said the team’s website features an inquiry section where individuals can report threatening behavior. Such inquiries will be forwarded to Patterson for an initial review, he said.
Patterson said it his is goal to reach back out to everyone who submits an inquiry and figure out what steps need to be taken.
Classroom locks being installed
In other updates, Robbins said locks are being installed on all classroom doors, which he hopes will be completed by Aug. 13. Instructions and other emergency guidance will be posted in all classrooms.
Exterior keyless access will be funded and completed on 28 remaining buildings as soon as possible, which will allow the campus to be locked down within one minute from a central location, Robbins said.
Duress buttons are also being installed in several high-traffic areas. In addition, automated external defibrillators and stop-the-bleed kits will be installed in all buildings, he said.
To help those who were directly affected by the Oct. 5 shooting, Robbins said the College of Science and the College of Engineering are paying counseling and psychiatric services copays for graduate and undergraduate students in the Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Department and the engineering departments in the John W. Harshbarger building through December 2023.
Also, Robbins said the UA will improve communication by holding biweekly online briefings to provide updates on university processes and enhancements to campus safety.
In an email sent to students earlier this week, Robbins said UA will create a website where people can track implementation of each recommendation.
“In the many hours I’ve spent talking to faculty, staff and students, many of them were witnesses to this tragedy,” Robbins said. “I know you’re feeling great pain and I just want you to know that we’re all going to come together as a community, to support you, to help you to learn from our past experiences and come together so that we can work together on specific plans to make the campus safer. These plans are evolving. It’s part of why we need to do these updates and get to this important work.”
University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins gave a campus safety update on March 27, following the release of a report prepared by the independent PAX Group. Video by Pascal Albright, Arizona Daily Star
