It is the recommendation of Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Greg Hestness that a program be adopted for Security ID badges at the University of Minnesota. The Security ID badge policy will not require all members of the university community to have Security ID badges, but when Security ID badges are required, the policy will state how Security ID badges will be handled.

Service providers, persons working in targeted high-risk areas, in addition to those required by law, will wear Security ID badges.

Rationale

The rationale for this recommendation includes the following:

• We are employees of a public University and must be accountable.
• We are entrusted with the guidance and safety of the young adults who attend the University. We should be readily identifiable to them and regarded as a trusted source of assistance, whether for routine or emergency matters.
• Similarly, we should be recognizable to other citizens who might require assistance.
• We are an open metropolitan campus with many public assets in our care.
• However, many critical areas are not public. Research laboratories, business and private offices, residences, clinics, infrastructure areas, and more are not open to the general public.

Objectives

In summary we are concerned with the following public safety objectives:

• The personal safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
• The protection of University assets from theft or damage.
• The threat of loss or compromise to research, whether caused by intentional or inadvertent acts of intruders.
• The protection of the entire community from any compromise of the select agents entrusted to the University.
• The protection of people, work product, infrastructure, and physical assets from intentional acts of disruption or terrorism.
• The issuance, display, and control of Security ID badges will contribute to these public safety objectives in the following ways:
• University employees who might already be willing to speak to people who seem out of place or lost, in non-public areas, may feel awkward about doing so. The absence of a displayed Security ID badge provides an articulable, non-judgmental, reason to approach. Normally, this can be done in a simple, ‘may I help you?’ manner. This provides an opportunity to help someone. However, if an identification badge is not displayed, it provides a valid reason to seek assistance from the University of Minnesota Police Department. It also contributes to an atmosphere and culture of awareness.
• In certain public areas that have limited business hours, such as classroom buildings, the wearing of Security ID badges would demonstrate for faculty, students, or staff that others present are probably not unauthorized intruders. At minimum, it will reduce their anonymity. It can be very unsettling for members of the University community to confront unexpected people in University buildings after hours. Again, the absence of displayed Security ID badges would provide good reason to ask for the assistance of the University of Minnesota Police Department, if staff were uncomfortable approaching such an unidentified visitor.