Weaver on mid-Atlantic safety board

By Valis Vicenty

Safety is a top priority at Rider. In her 20 years here, Vickie Weaver, Director of the Department of Public Safety, has strived to maintain a secure University.

Now her experience and expertise will help other college campuses as she serves as the Mid-Atlantic Region Director of International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).

As director, Weaver, who in the past has worked with the New Jersey Campus Security Task Force, serves to help improve safety on other college and university campuses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

“I bring up matters that are of concern to my constituents,” Weaver said about her role. “I am their voice. We have meetings throughout the year to discuss trends, issues [and] various problems on campuses. [We] try to stay on the cutting edge and try to be as proactive as possible.”

IACLEA is an international organization that started in 1958 and consists of municipal police chiefs, criminal justice faculty members and campus law enforcement staff from more than 1,100 colleges and universities in 20 countries.

The group aims to advance public safety for educational institutions by providing educational resources, advocacy and professional development.

“It has a very strong membership in the United States, Canada and several countries overseas,” Weaver said. “We’re very focused and dedicated to promoting public safety on college campuses.”

The organization itself works with college and university campuses by helping to ensure that lines of communication are always open, between public safety staff, students and local emergency personnel. It also shares information in the form of recommendations to help improve safety and provide outreach programs, such as the Rider Alert System.

“The role of public safety on college campuses has truly evolved over the past five to 10 years,” Weaver said. “We want to avoid things [that have] occurred in other places. All of our effort goes into trying to make the campuses safe.”

Safety has truly been a priority of Weaver’s, and she has felt privileged to work with many people involved in the public safety community. She believes that communication is an integral part in keeping Rider’s campuses, as well as all campuses, secure.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to work with different organizations” she said. “I will say that whatever happens at one school impacts all. I’m very impressed with the work that goes on here.”