AU, COUNTY AND CITY SEEK TO
CREATE UNIQUE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PARTNERSHIP
In what is being described as the first
public-private venture of its type nationally, Anderson University is
discussing a plan with Anderson County and the City of Anderson to establish a
forward-thinking Criminal Justice Center
of Excellence within the former Duke Energy administrative building at the
corner of Murray Avenue and Bleckley Street in Anderson.
There, three entities – the
University, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Anderson Police
Department could come together to conduct separate official activities and
collaborate to create synergy to strengthen the educational experience of both
undergraduate and graduate students preparing for careers and enhancing
credentials in the fields of criminal justice, emergency preparedness, and
homeland security.
Anderson County Council,
acting through then chairman Tommy Dunn, Francis Crowder, interim administrator
Rusty Burns, sheriff John Skipper, and deputy chief of emergency services
division of the Sheriff’s Office Taylor Jones, initiated discussions with the
University several months ago regarding how the two organizations might work
together on matters of mutual interest. After learning one another’s
specific needs and goals, the two organizations focused on the criminal justice
center as a way to meet both organizations’ needs and simultaneously do
something good for the citizens and businesses of Anderson County – enhancing public
safety and criminal justice through purpose-driven collaboration.
Anderson University took
ownership of the building last fall in a partial sale - partial gift
arrangement with Duke Energy Carolinas for the expansion of its growing
criminal justice programs. Local, state,
and company-wide Duke Energy officials worked with the University to set aside
the former administrative building for the advancement of public safety and
quality of life.
Later this spring, the
University’s School of Criminal Justice, including its graduate-level Command College of South Carolina, will
relocate to the Duke facility’s first floor.
According to the proposed plan, at the same time, the Anderson County
Sheriff’s Office would establish its Emergency Operation Center on the second
floor of the building including approximately 6,000 square feet. The Anderson Police Department is exploring
the potential to locate its Digital Forensics Laboratory within the remaining
1,000 square feet.
In making the announcement,
AU president, Evans Whitaker, said, “Each entity is studying the opportunity to
create an unprecedented public safety impact on our community, the potential
operational advantages and/or disadvantages of such a venture, and possible
paths forward to bring the organizations together under one roof for
collaboration. Driving us at all times
has been the desire to make a positive difference in our community, to do it
efficiently, and to align our separate resources strategically to make it
happen. I give special credit to County
Council as a whole for its forward thinking.
Had they not approached the University with the desire to work together
for the benefit of our County, this simply would not have happened. We are
deeply grateful to the County Council and the Sheriff’s Office for their
willingness to join with us to do something good that has never been done. We believe it will not only be successful,
but that it holds the potential to be a national model for other communities. Both the County and the University are very
hopeful the City will join in this initiative.”
City Manager John Moore
agreed that the City of Anderson always seeks opportunities to meet new
community needs especially when leveraging our resources is productive and cost
efficient. “The City of Anderson
supports this endeavor and will be working with the City Council to determine
the City’s role in this future program,” Moore said.
Each entity will conduct
its separate activities just as it has in the past. For example, the University will conduct its
criminal justice classes and house its criminal justice faculty within the
building. The County will equip and run
its Emergency Operation Center from the Bleckley Street location. If the City joins in, it would equip and run
its Digital Forensics Laboratory from the site.
But by cooperating beyond these individual functions is where the added
benefits come into play, the partners believe.
Students, who will be the
area’s future criminal justice professionals and public servants, will have the
opportunity to see the County’s and City’s operations in action, to become
familiar with their equipment, processes, and protocols, and to assist existing
professionals in conducting actual emergency and forensic activities. The law enforcement organizations and the
citizens they serve will have the benefit of highly competent and articulate
new professionals entering the workforce with unprecedented practical
experience in their fields, not to mention the additional manpower students
will provide as they observe and assist in actual emergency and intelligence
gathering activities.
In addition, the University
is exploring future opportunities to partner with federal agencies and nuclear
energy organizations to design and deliver educational degree programs to meet
their needs.
All students and AU
personnel must undergo appropriate background checks and security clearances to
be allowed access in either law enforcement organization’s space and to
participate in their activities. They
will also be under official supervision and direction at all times when
observing or working with law enforcement personnel.
George Ducworth, professor
and chair of AU’s School of Criminal Justice, said, “We are very excited about
the partnership the University and its partners wish to form. From our
perspective, it will give our students an unprecedented opportunity to interact
with the County’s Emergency Operation Center, the Upstate Fusion Center, which
promotes intelligence and information sharing among many local, state, and
federal entities, as well as other facets of the Sheriff’s Office and the
Police Department. It‘s a win-win proposition for the citizens of Anderson
County, the City and the entire region as well as the University. It is the
first partnership of this nature of which we are aware. It will result in exceptional criminal
justice and public safety professionals for our region and will go a long way
toward making the AU School of Criminal Justice the best place to prepare
anyone for such a career.”
According to University
spokesman, Barry Ray, “AU could certainly use the second floor of the Duke
building for its own purposes, but the proposed partnership is a reflection of
the University’s philosophy to place even greater emphasis on its intention to serve
and strengthen our local community and partner with those organizations that
wish to join us in that worthy goal.
Given the University’s remarkable growth, addition of facilities, and
ever-increasing national recognition, there’s never been a time when AU was
better positioned to help our local community, region, and state as a driver of
quality of life and economic development.
We welcome that opportunity.”
For both the Sheriff’s
Office and the Police Department, the former Duke facility makes it possible to
locate critical functions without the City and County having to construct new
facilities. But it also represents a new
opportunity to take part in the education and molding of future law enforcement
professionals to meet new and emerging needs in an era of increasing threats in
the areas of safety and security.
“As a result of Duke
Energy’s generosity and foresight, we are delighted to have such a facility
that we can share with our local law enforcement organizations for the benefit
of our students and the public. It’s a
great example of increasing mutually beneficial public-private partnerships
that allow their partners to simultaneously meet their individual needs and
meet the needs of their communities with greater efficiency and impact,” Whitaker
added.
The Anderson County Council
will consider the proposal next Tuesday evening at its regularly scheduled
meeting. Members of the Anderson City
Council will consider the proposal in the very near future. If approved, preparations for occupancy would
begin immediately.
Anderson University offers
multiple tracks for criminal justice education including a degree completion
program designed for those who hold two-year criminal justice degrees from
technical colleges, several four-year programs for entering freshmen, and a
graduate program for existing top law enforcement and public safety
professionals. The graduate program
offers the Master of Criminal Justice degree and is the signature program of
the University’s Command College of South
Carolina.
The University’s Board of
Trust recently approved a new bachelor of criminal justice degree in Homeland
Security/Emergency Preparedness that supports its local as well as national
interests. The degree is designed to prepare graduates for
positions with local, state and federal government agencies such as homeland
security/emergency preparedness agencies, city and state police and sheriffs’
departments, probation and parole departments, FBI, State Law Enforcement
Division, drug enforcement agencies, the Secret Service, correctional
institutions, juvenile justice agencies and in private, industrial security.
Anderson
University is a selective private comprehensive university of 2,700 students
located in Anderson, South Carolina. It
is ranked among the top tier of US News & World Report’s America’s
Best Colleges and is listed on the US News & World Report’s list
of less than 50 “up and coming” universities in America recognized for
innovation and extraordinary recent advancement. It is also listed as a Best Southeastern
University by the Princeton Review and among America’s 100 Best College Buy’s
published annually by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Rome,
Georgia. Since 2002, Anderson’s
enrollment has increased 70 percent and campus property has quadrupled from 68
to 272 acres.
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