With the creation of the U-M Division of Public Safety and Security, the department names within the division have been revised effective immediately, Interim Executive Director Joe Piersante announced.
The new department names are:
• University of Michigan Police Department (UMPD), formerly the Department of Public Safety.
• Hospitals and Health Centers Security Services (HHCSS), commonly called Hospital Security.
• Housing Security and Safety Services (HSSS), formerly Housing Security.
• University Security Services (USS), a new unit comprised of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, Security Systems and Technology Management, Art Museum security, Kelsey Museum security and contract security.
“We expect the revised names to help the university community better recognize the roles and responsibilities of the women and men in these departments,” Piersante said.
The new division was announced in November 2012 to encompass all security functions across the university and create an executive director of public safety and security who reports to the president. At that time, Piersante was named as the interim executive director while the search for a permanent director is conducted. Piersante also serves as the police chief, after serving as interim police chief since November 2011.
“Our transition to a new division has been progressing as we work with our campus colleagues to accomplish the behind-the-scenes work, such as creating budgets and moving employees from auxiliary units into a campus division, while we continue to fulfill our daily services to the university community,” Piersante said. “We’ve enhanced our internal communications among the division departments through unified management meetings, a division all-staff meeting, and regular staff communications. We’ve also incorporated each department into our weekly crime analysis meetings.
“We’re also working with our university marketing department to create a new brand for the division and departments with new logos, a website and ultimately new vehicle markings and uniform patches. This will continue our efforts to help our university community know who we are when they need assistance.”
The DPSS website is expected to be operational in late January.
