Chancellor Joel E. Anderson organized a campus forum on safety Thursday, assuring students, staff, and faculty that UALR is a secure campus and efforts are ongoing to make it more so.

The gathering came four days after Little Rock Police announced that a body found in a pond near Sweet Home was that of UALR international business major Patricia Garcia Guardado, whose car was found abandoned a week ago in a parking lot across University Avenue west of the campus.

“Many of you have expressed concerns over safety, and I wanted to give you an opportunity to voice your concerns and ask questions,” the chancellor said. “I want people to feel safe, as well as be safe.”

Several participants blamed lack of convenient parking near their classes for their feelings of insecurity. Several night students talked of low-levels of lighting on routes they take to get to their cars after class. Others complained of 20-minute waits for requested police escorts to their cars, and some suggested more emergency call boxes and more security cameras.

One student who rides city buses to classes said security in the interior of campus is good but requested emergency call phones near entrances to the campus, something the chancellor said could be done.

Another student – a former member of the military – suggested elevated security stations on parking lots to give observers a better view of the area. He also volunteered to organize students to man the observation posts.

Several students, citing crime statistics and reviews of incident reports, said UALR is safer than most college campuses in the state.

“This is a safe campus,” said Jessica Thompson, a criminal justice student who works on the information desk at the Donaghey Student Center. She countered criticism that campus police officers are seldom seen in the interior of the campus.

“We have 25 officers who work hard to keep you safe. They are stopping (potential criminals) on the outskirts.”

Stacy Moak, associate professor of criminal justice, said safety begins with the individual and she encouraged campus citizens to protect themselves from being victims of crime.

“Ladies, get your keys out of your purse before you leave the building. How many times have you seen someone in the parking lot, one foot on the ground, digging in the purse for the keys,” she asked. “Your car is a weapon. Get in it, close the door, and crank it.”

Moak, who teaches night classes, always has students walk with her to her car, and she drives them to their car.

“You have to feel the responsibility for your safety and safety of others,” she said.

Still, walking from a class that ends at 10 p.m can be unsettling.

“At night, it can be like a ghost town,” said Sebastian Godsey, a sophomore majoring in international business.

Anderson, who lives on campus and often walks at night and before dawn, said he understands how the dark can make one uneasy.

“Growing up on a farm, I understand if you are in the dark by yourself, it can be a scary thing,” the chancellor said.

Anderson said security is an ongoing topic of review at UALR, and he outlined safety policies initiated over the last few years. One of those changes allows students with a UALR ID to gain entry to any of the gated lots in the interior of the campus after 4 p.m.

Every fall after the switch from Daylight Savings Time, Dave Millay, associate vice chancellor for facilities management, organizes a group to tour campus at night to make notes of shadowy areas to adjust lighting.

Other recent security upgrades include telephone, text, and email notifications system, upgraded cameras, 84 emergency phones, and pedestrian safety measures.

The administration has been studying establishing a shuttle system, “and there is a high probability we can to it, at least on a trial basis.”

Lt. Terry Hastings, public information officer for the Little Rock Police Department, offered an update on the investigation to find the killer of Patricia Guardado, who left her  home at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12. She never made it to her 9 a.m. calculus class.

“There was nothing as far as the car was concerned that set off any flags,” Hastings said. “We have information we are working on, but we are not revealing those details at this time. I have no doubt we will solve this case very quickly.”

Hastings said his first assignment after joining the LRPD in 1976 was to write parking tickets on UALR student cars parking in the same private lot where Guardado’s car was found.