19-04-2025
Savannah State University police talk campus safety
SAVANNAH, Ga (WSAV) – The latest school shooting is prompting renewed focus on campus safety across the country, and WSAV spoke with Savannah State University's (SSU) police chief.
Savannah State University's Police Chief Clarella Thomas has been in her role for just over a year and she informed WSAV that she is dedicated to strengthening safety protocols and finding new ways to protect the campus.
'I'm a mother of college students,' she said. 'I know how important it is. You send your children here to get an education and you want them to be safe.'
Thomas said one of their strongest tools is the voice of the campus community. We're told students and campus partners lean heavily on the phrase, 'see something, say something.'
'They're what help you connect the dots when it's time to investigate and when it's time to respond,' she said.
She said that her team is consistently pre-planning, upgrading emergency plans and implementing what she calls, 'good physical security'.
'We utilize not only our camera systems, but we also have the emergency notification, Everbridge, that we encourage our students, staff and faculty to opt in so that they may have more information on anything that may occur on the campus,' Thomas said.
She continued, 'This is a beautiful campus wide open, but we have gates that are sort of our barriers and so we want to look at ways that we can continue to improve even those areas so that we can make sure we know who's coming in, who's going on our campus.'
Now that she has taken over, starting this summer, her team will begin working with outside agencies.
'We had a number of organizations, law enforcement organizations, who have actively contacted me and said, 'hey, this summer we would love to get with your team to utilize the campus while the students are away', she said. 'And I've already talked to a number of students who would be interested in being a part of the drill as well.'
Thomas is eager to work alongside SSU's new president, Jermaine Whirl, to take the university to next level.
'These are such tragic tragedies that continue to plague our communities,' she said. 'But here at Savannah State [University], we, like all other institutions, are encouraging our community to be vigilant in an effort to maintain the safety and security of the campus and also to prevent things like this from happening.'
The Orange Crush festival is April 19, which is expected to bring more college students into the city. Chief Thomas said extra precautions are in place. Only individuals with a student ID will be allowed on campus.
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