Today@Sam Article

Annual Bash To Focus On Community Safety

Sept. 15, 2016
SHSU Media Contact: Tricia Sims

Teddi Cliett contributed to this story. 

An SHSU University Police Department officer chats with a student during last year's Kats Safety Bash, designed to foster a positive relationship between local public safety professionals and Bearkat and Huntsville community members. —Photos by Brian Blalock

The Sam Houston State Department of Public Safety Services has teamed up with Memorial Hermann, Texas Department of Transportation, SHSU Residence Life, the Huntsville Fire Department and the SHSU Police Department to host the third annual Kats Safety Bash on Wednesday (Sept. 21), starting at 6 p.m. in the Bowers Stadium parking lot.

“The Kats Safety Bash event is our way of allowing the students, staff, faculty and visitors of Sam Houston State University the unique opportunity to interact with local public safety professionals in a fun, free environment,” said University Police Department Officer Jeffrey Butterworth.

The annual event offers attendees the opportunity to interact with a variety of safety simulations, such as a Life Flight helicopter provided by Memorial Hermann, DWI simulator, a mock dorm room fire presented by SHSU Residence Life and the Huntsville Fire Department, and a vehicle roll over simulator. 

“I think the timing is perfect,” said director of Emergency Preparedness and Safety David Yebra. “All of our students just came back to class and this will give them the opportunity to learn some things that they have never been exposed to.”

Like previous years, this year's Kats Safety Bash will include displays and interactive discussions and activities for attendees.

The goal of the event is to educate the university community about a variety of safety topics and general public safety.

“The event is an outward symbol of the great partnership we have with the community,” Yebra said. “It is an example of what we do with city, county, first responders, and police to really emphasize the need of safety in the community as a whole.”

Butterworth anticipates that there will be an increase in the number of attendees, vendors, free food and giveaways this year. 

“We have continued to expand the event by providing more interactive events and safety vendors,” he said. “Even if participants participated in the past, this year’s event will have new things for everyone to experience.”

Yebra said the event also might be an opportunity to look into law enforcement as a career.

“They can take a look at all the incredible work our law enforcement does and see if it is something they are interested in,” Yebra said. “The students can look at it as a career opportunity and they can talk to these people at the event. This would be a great opportunity for them to interact with individuals who do this on a day-to-day basis. It is an incredible field.”

The Kats Safety Bash is an opportunity for the community to learn about all that SHSU and the UPD have done to increase safety on campus.

“There have been a number of things that have caused us to accelerate our preparedness on campus for emergencies,” Yebra said. “One is just our incredible growth. More people at the university come with the need for more ways to distribute information. Plus we had to implement new policies and procedures, such as concealed carry.”

The UPD has put information for public safety and campus policy and procedures on the KatSafe website and the guidebook phone app. There is also the emergency notification system that sends alerts through desktop messages, phone calls and text messages.

Over the summer, the UPD also had the opportunity to talk to nine orientation groups about campus safety and had a record of 2,000 Guidebook app downloads.

The Kats Safety Bash is just another way in which the UPD is trying to spread the message of safety and what people should do in case of an emergency.

“We want to create a fun and interactive environment that our university and local communities will enjoy learning about public safety,” Butterworth said. “Preventing crime is everyone’s responsibility, and together we can work to make the university and our local communities safer.”

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