The Associated Students Public Safety Commission held a public safety meeting in Isla Vista Theater yesterday where attendees discussed ways to improve safety and quality of life in Isla Vista.
A.S. Public Safety Commission Chairperson and third-year biology major Molly Morrison organized the event in hopes of bringing Isla Vista residents together to brainstorm ideas to enact safety reform in I.V. The students who spoke at yesterday’s meeting, all of whom expressed that they were impacted by Friday evening’s tragedy, voiced that I.V. culture needed to be directed in a positive direction in light of recent events.
Morrison opened the meeting by describing A.S. Public Safety Commission’s involvement within the I.V. community. Following Morrison’s brief introduction, audience members were given the opportunity to address others in the audience.  According to Morrison, the event was primarily aimed to educate students about what public safety resources were available to them and what avenues were available for getting involved with public safety in I.V.
“I think a lot of students came to the meeting tonight not knowing what Public Commission was or did at all or what resources they had in the community and in A.S.,” Morrison said. “I think our community came together tonight with a bunch of great ideas and I hope we can move forward as group dedicated to improving Isla Vista.”
First-year computer engineering major Robert Stosick presented three ideas at the meeting to prospectively improve safety in I.V. such as the installation of a siren system, a gunfire locating system such as ShotSpotter — a program that installs dozens of sensors in an area in order to immediately relay gunshot locations — and emergency phone stations throughout I.V. However, Stosick was uncertain the ideas introduced by him and others would reach fruition.
“I would like to think the ideas brought up by all of us tonight will be taken into consideration, but I do not know if these ideas can be carried out because Isla Vista does not have its own form of government and is entirely dependent on outside entities,” Stosick said.
Morrison also said all audience suggestions would be taken into consideration, including better fencing along the bluffs of I.V. and a possible I.V. community center.
“It is hard to say what is practical right now as Isla Vista is not a self-governing body, but I think we can take it upon ourselves to improve fencing conditions,” Morrison said. “I also think it is possible for us to take an existing building and create a community center building.”
According to Morrison, another public safety meeting is in the works and any students interested in I.V. public safety can check out the “UCSB AS Public Safety Commission” Facebook page.

 

This story is a Daily Nexus online exclusive.

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