PS Fayette opens safety center
An accomplished segment of Penn State Fayette has grown into a new venture that promises to serve not only the local community, but also the region, state and even beyond. “It is with great pleasure and enormous pride that I announce the official opening of the Center for Community and Public Safety right here at Penn State Fayette,” Dr. Diane M. Disney, dean of Penn State’s Commonwealth College, said during a formal program Friday at the campus.
The center is not a new building but an administrative and academic unit of the campus. The center is an outgrowth of Penn State Fayette’s delivery over the years of continuing education to emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officials that has included the state Act 44 of 1994 constable training.
Disney said this service has grown beyond the confines of continuing education and the geographic borders of the campus that she said needed to be broadened. She said the concept of the center is to offer a central delivery unit for emergency service and safety education from CPR to homeland security.
“What better approach than to create a center?” she asked.
The center replaces and expands on Penn State Fayette’s former office of emergency medical services.
Campus Executive Officer Dr. Gregory Gray welcomed those gathered for the announcement and Ted A. Mellors, director of the Center for Community and Public Safety, gave an overview of what the campus has offered in the past and could offer in the future.
Besides the goal of providing emergency response and safety-oriented training and education, the center’s goals include the establishment of a national counter-terrorism/homeland security center at the campus and identification of outside funding to provide the educational activities to emergency responders at no charge.
Mellors said the plan is that the center will be the leading provider of community and public safety training and educational activities within the state.
Mellors said the campus established its emergency medical services program in 1987 and in 1996 was selected to deliver constable training programs for the area and the following year was selected to develop the Act 44 of 1944 constable training curriculum. In 1998, the campus received the Association for Continuing Higher Education Distinguished Non-Credit Program Award for its efforts.
Mellors listed further accomplishments that included delivery in 2001 of probation and parole officers’ firearms courses for all of western Pennsylvania and in 2002 the delivery of Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s statewide crime prevention conference.
He listed highlights of the campus program regarding law enforcement, emergency medical services and hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction. He said in the past 18 months, the campus has offered Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission funded courses to numerous police officers.
Among future endeavors, Mellors said the campus has received funding from the Emergency Medical Services Institute to develop a Web-based emergency medical services continuing education program that will permit EMS personnel to take their continuing education courses online at their convenience.
Andy Mazarra, director for Penn State’s Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies, Applied Research Laboratory, spoke of the two centers collaborating on non-lethal law enforcement methods.
They will work on the development and delivery of “new security concepts for public safety and public order.”
Mazarra said the Applied Research Laboratory has worked for the past five years with a variety of law enforcement professionals and organizations. He said although Penn State is not developing the non-lethal technologies, Penn State provides the experts who are familiar with the technologies and can give recommendations on their use to government sponsors. He said law enforcement can come to them for information on these technologies and their use.
William Thompson, executive director for the Westmoreland/Fayette Workforce Investment Board, addressed a program that will offer “customized training for critical skills.”
“Our task is using public funds to meet workforce needs of the communities we serve,” he said.
To that end, he said the board this September through Penn State’s new center will begin to offer first responders and those wanting to enter the emergency medical field with training for immediate and long-term employment. He said successful applicants to the program will receive the training at no charge.
Dr. Richard Bell, Penn State Fayette professor of administration of justice, talked about the academic aspect of the center as well as the proliferation and dangers of white collar crime. Dr. Michael Mahalik, director of academic affairs, served as master of ceremonies.