Department of Public Safety

The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors is our top priority. We are committed to providing the highest level of professional police and public safety services to foster a safe learning and working environment for all. As we move forward, it is my hope that our services and outreach efforts will strengthen our connection to the community we serve.

Our devotion to being part of the community and building relationships, helps us to better understand the importance of cooperation, education, and police-citizen partnerships. Our commitment towards this style of policing allows us to be part of the fabric of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and assists us in cultivating true partnerships with our community.

We welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas for making the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts an even safer environment. To share your ideas with the Department of Public Safety, please visit our facility located at 341 Ashland St., call 413-662-5284 or fill out the form.

Sincerely,

Daniel J. Colonno
Chief of Police

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The police officers and staff of the Department of Public Safety - Campus Police are dedicated to ensuring the safety of everyone on campus, at all times. We do this through a series of educational and training programs, emergency booklets and phones throughout campus, escort services, 24-hour patrols, and emergency alerts and other notifications as needed. We also provide student ID cards and parking decals, and are here to help if your car needs a jump start or you lock yourself out of your room or vehicle.

Our officers are sworn, warranted, armed police officers and certified First Responders, many of whom have specialized training in addition to their Police Academy and Field Officer training. All officers receive in-service training annually.

Meet the Officers & Support Staff

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Mission Statement

"The primary mission of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Department of Public Safety – Campus Police is to protect life and property. Fulfilling our obligations to the College community, we enforce Federal, State and Local Laws as well as College rules and regulations. We are dedicated to the prevention and detection of crime. We recognize our responsibility to preserve individual rights and afford dignity and respect to every individual.

We are committed to being responsive to our College Community in the delivery of quality services and to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, to partner with the community to solve problems, and to enhance public safety in a manner that is reasonable, unbiased and transparent”.

Core Values

The Department of Public Safety, along with its mission to serve our College community by providing a safe and secure campus, has adopted the following values;

• Fairness and Impartiality: We act with fairness, restraint, and impartiality in carrying out our responsibilities. We understand that our actions combined with the way we treat members of our community, contribute to our “legitimacy” in the eyes of the public.
• Integrity: We are honest, truthful, and consistent in our words and actions, and therefore worthy of the community’s trust.
• Teamwork: We work together as one organization in carrying out the mission of the department. As individual members, we are respectful to each other and work collectively to solve problems in service of our community.
• Collaboration: We value working partnerships with our community, to create and maintain a culture of mutual trust, with a goal of shared success and accomplishment.
• Competence: We are public safety professionals, exhibiting a quiet confidence in the performance of our duties; accompanied by the desire for continuous improvement. We are responsive to the needs of our community and deliver services promptly and efficiently.

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One purpose of the federal law known as the Jeanne Clery Act is to encourage the reporting and collection of accurate campus crime statistics to promote crime awareness and enhance campus safety. The information collected will be used to compile statistics to be included in the Annual Security Report (ASR) that MCLA publishes and distributes each fall.

As a Campus Security Authority (CSA), you are obligated to report to Campus Police any incidents of the types of crime covered by the Clery Act in a timely fashion. These crimes are required to be published in an ASR and made available to the campus community in order to meet the requirements of federal law (Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092(f)). In addition to reporting crimes covered by the Clery Act, CSA’s are encouraged to report any and all crimes of which they are aware.

If you have questions about the Clery Act — including what determines who is a Campus Security Authority (CSA) or the responsibilities of a CSA — contact MCLA Campus Police Chief Daniel Colonno at d.colonno@mcla.edu or 413-662-5284.

To report an incident, complete the Campus Security Authority Crime Report, which outlines what types of crimes must be reported and serves as the official reporting mechanism to Campus Police. Once completed, save the report and email it to d.colonno@mcla.edu.

Who is a Campus Security Authority

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