New UArizona police chief wants whole campus aiming for safety

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The University of Arizona is like a medium sized city wedged into midtown Tucson.

That means the UArizona community has the same safety concerns as any city. Dealing with them and keeping the campus safe falls to Chris Olson, the new UA Police Chief.

Chris Olson was an UArizona officer early in his career, then moved to Oro Valley Police where he advanced to a senior commander. When the previous chief resigned in the aftermath of the on campus murder of Professor Thoimas Meixner, Olson came on as interim Chief. Now he’s permanent.

UArizona Police Chief Full Interview

That shooting led to an Office of Public Safety that coordinating police, multiple departments and mental health resources in the name of a safer campus.

Olson says, “I don't want students staff or faculty to worry about safety, but we want to create a culture of safety, where it's kind of built in built into their DNA when they come onto the campus that they're mindful of their own safety, situational awareness, locking your stuff up, walking in well lit areas, walking with with other students.”

Chief Olson says most campus crime is property crime, like car break ins and thefts from university parking garages.

For better understanding between University police and the people they serve, the Chief’s starting a Community Academy next month. 50 people at a time will gather to learn about police procedures—-and police will learn from them.

KGUN 9 reporter Craig Smith asked: “And you're hoping to meet and get to know each other before you have a crisis?"

Chief Olson: “Yeah, absolutely. You know, that is really the key is meeting, getting together before a crisis occurs. So you know, one, hopefully we mitigate the crisis before it happens, right? Because we're working collaboratively together. But should something happen on this campus? There's trust built in, and we can continue to work through whatever crisis is occurring.”