Engineering the Modern Campus Safety Ecosystem - Moving Beyond Reactive Policing

In this episode of The Security Exchange, host Dan Pascale sits down with Mike Rein, Vice President at COSECURE and former Deputy Chief of Police at Rutgers University. With more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, Mike is an FBI National Academy graduate and longtime EMT who brings a practical, real-world perspective to the challenges of campus public safety.
 
This conversation examines how colleges and universities can rethink safety in today’s open, complex campus environments. Rather than relying solely on traditional policing models, Mike explains how institutions can build a coordinated approach to safety that aligns people, technology, and operational strategy.
 
Whether you're a campus safety leader, university administrator, facilities director, or risk manager, this episode explores how institutions can move toward a more intentional and collaborative approach to campus protection.
 
Key topics discussed in this episode include:
 
  • The “Fit for Purpose” Response Model:  Why sending a sworn officer to every type of call—such as a residential lockout—may not be the best use of resources, and how campuses can better match responders to the situation.
 
  • Campus Safety as a Shared Responsibility: Why can't safety live solely within the “police department”? Residence Life, Athletics, IT, Facilities, and other departments all play a role in creating a safer campus environment.
 
  • The Risk of Cutting Security During Construction: How security infrastructure is often reduced during project “value engineering,” and why this can create long-term vulnerabilities.
 
  • Threat Assessment vs. Care Teams: Understanding the important difference between student support teams and multidisciplinary threat assessment teams designed to identify and mitigate targeted violence.
 
  • Security vs. Convenience - The “Pizza Box” Problem: What simple behaviors like propping doors open can undermine thousands of dollars of security technology and why building a culture of safety matters as much as installing new systems.

"If you are still providing campus safety the same way you did in the year 2000, it is time to take a hard look at your strategy; true safety is an intentional ecosystem co-produced by the entire community and built for a specific purpose."