About us
Mission statement
To keep Portland Community College safe.
Value statement
The Portland Community College Department of Public Safety is committed to RISE to all challenges, RISE above expectations and RISE to ever higher levels of professionalism.
The organizational values of the Department of Public Safety are (RISE):
- Respect means to continually show due regard, consideration and compassion to all.
- Integrity means a strict adherence to moral and ethical principles, accountability, and unwavering honesty.
- Service means to perform all duties with knowledge, competence, enthusiasm, and pride.
- Excellence means to provide superior public safety services with continuous improvement and efficiency.
Public Safety staff
See our Organizational chart for more details.
- Public Safety Director: The director of public safety plans, organizes, and directs the operations of our district-wide public safety department. The public safety department is also responsible for emergency preparedness and the director oversees the management of this program as well as all other disciplines in the department.
- Campus Sergeants: Sergeants serve as the lead public safety contact on campuses. Sergeants oversee the daily operations at their assigned campuses, coordinating schedules, reviewing reports, and serving as first responders to major campus incidents.
- Public Safety Officers: Officers make up the largest population of Department personnel. Public Safety Officers have the authority to enforce college policies and regulations and may make physical custody arrests for crimes committed in their presence. Officers are supported by the college in the enforcement of all applicable federal, state, and city laws and ordinances. Public Safety Officers respond to calls for service originating on property owned and operated by the college. Under Oregon Revised Statute 341.300, the College Board has adopted policies governing policing, control, and regulation of traffic on college property. This statute gives Public Safety officers authority as Peace Officers to enforce regulations adopted by the Board. Officers carry less than lethal defensive tools, including handcuffs, a baton, and pepper spray, and are certified in First Aid/CPR and the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED). Officers do not carry firearms and are licensed as Private Security Professionals through Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).
- Communications Coordinator: The Communications Coordinator manages the daily operations of the Public Safety Communications Center, including scheduling of the communications staff and coordination of daily work assignments. The Communications Coordinator serves as the liaison for the Regional Justice Information Network (RegJIN). The Communications Coordinator also oversees our On-Campus Emergency Alert System (OCEANS), the system that we utilize to make both non-emergency and emergency alerts to the various campuses.
- Communication Officer: DPS communications officers (dispatchers) are trained to assess the priority of reported incidents, collect necessary information, and dispatch both on-campus and local emergency responders for a variety of public safety-related calls. Additionally, communications officers answer general public safety questions. Our communications officers attend a three-week public safety telecommunicator academy at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) in Salem, Oregon. In addition to this, they receive local training on our computer-aided dispatch system, two-way radio operation, and the city of Portland Police’s computer-aided dispatch system, and the Regional Justice Information Network (RegJIN).
- Clery Specialist/Coordinator: The Clery Specialist/Coordinator is responsible for Portland Community College’s compliance with the Clery Act and the Drug Free Schools & Communities Act (DFSCA), which include the collection of crime data and policy disclosure statements, preparation, publication, and dissemination of the Annual Security Report, entry of crime data with U.S. Department of Education, identification, designation, and training of Campus Security Authorities, identification of Clery geography, scheduling and work of the Clery Team, preparation of the Biennial Review Report and annual notification for DFSCA.