WHITEWATER — The UW-Whitewater Police Department will soon have a dedicated space to plan and communicate during emergencies thanks to federal funding secured by Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
The university received $225,000 from the Department of Homeland Security to build an emergency operations center on campus.
Watch: UW-Whitewater community prepares for safety improvements
Chief Michael Kiederlin said he has tried to secure funding for at least five years because he believes the current UW-Whitewater Police emergency operations center inside Goodhue Hall is inadequate.
"It's our conference room which doubles as our emergency operations center," Kiederlin said. "We got this put together and made it function. That's what we had to do, make it function."
The new dedicated space can be activated during on-campus emergencies, but will also be available for first responders in Walworth, Jefferson, and Rock counties during widespread times of crisis such as natural disasters.
"They will be able to use our site as a secondary site," Kiederlin said. "It's that piece of mind where, heaven forbid something terrible happens, we have what we need."
The funding for the emergency operations center is among $1 million appropriated to Wisconsin from the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement, Sen. Baldwin said, “I’m proud to have secured this funding to help communities across our state strengthen infrastructure, improve emergency preparedness, and keep Wisconsin families safe for years to come.”
The police department protects and serves more than 11,000 students on campus, most of whom are living away from home for the first time.
Sophomore Max Marty is an orientation leader for the upcoming freshman class. He says he feels comfortable on campus and has assured parents that students are protected by law enforcement.
"I tell them UW-Whitewater has the safety of the police department and everything else," Marty said. "It's making sure that the students are safe."
UW-Whitewater Police hope to activate its new emergency operations center by this time next year. They are preemptively planning to restructure an existing space on campus for the new hub, but are not sure which space yet.
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