LCC Chief of Public Safety and Director of Emergency Preparedness Jace Smith accepted the award on behalf of his highly trained and dedicated team of about 30 full-time and part-time professionals as well as numerous college and high school students..
LCC Public Safety collaborates with college departments and community agencies to provide a safe learning and working environment. On campus, the department maintains safety systems, responds to criminal, fire, medical, and weather incidents, enforces laws and regulations, and conducts safety and emergency training. The department established a cadet program for students in partnership with Lane’s criminal justice program, and founded an Egan Warming Center on main campus for homeless students and others in need of shelter on freezing nights. The department responded to a tornado on main campus in April 2015 and assisted Umpqua Community College in the aftermath the October 2015 shooting. Many of its staff are trained EMTs; one is a national expert in chemical hazardous materials response.
The department partners with agencies including the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement and fire response agencies across the state.
Smith has been with the college since 2010. Prior to Lane he oversaw security for several hospitals in the private sector, led police officers with Minneapolis Police, worked in student affairs at the University of Wisconsin, and has been a consultant and lecturer. He has a master of arts in public policy from the University of Minnesota, a certificate in law enforcement from Metropolitan State University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and national security policy from Ohio State University. He served in the United States Air Force Reserves as a medical services specialist for eight years.
For more information about Lane Community College:
Lane is an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabilities Employer
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