Company representatives will visit the UMass campus during spring break.
This sign notifies UMass-Amerst students of security protocols.
AMHERST – The University of Massachusetts has hired a New York based company to look at residential security and representatives will visit the campus during spring break.
Business Protection Specialists, Inc., a security consulting firm based in Canandaigua, N.Y. was one of five companies that initially applied to review security.
One of the five did not meet specifications and another withdrew, according to spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski.
The cost of the consultant’s work is $39,584.
UMass Police Chief John Horvath requested a consultant be hired after reviewing security protocols in place following a reported rape on campus in October. Four teens who do not attend the university were charged in connection with the crime.
Three of the teens were signed into Pierpont Hall, one of the freshmen dormitories in the Southwest residential complex, by someone who did not know them, a violation of the student code. The victim was not home at the time the teens arrived, according to court records. A fourth was not signed in at all.
Following the incident, the head of security had been collecting information on current security measures and reported to the chief in November of last year. He then asked that a consultant be hired and a selection committee was created.
The committee “was very impressed by the details of the proposal,” Blaguszewski said. Business Protection Specialists has 22 years of experience in this area. “These people are experienced and had resources and experience to get on with it promptly.”
He said the university wants to make any changes for next fall. Representatives will be on campus during spring break beginning March 18 and will tour the residences, inspect technical security and the current visitor access in the six residential areas.
The team will return April 4 and 5 to observe security procedures while students are on campus.
Blaguszewski said the company will send out surveys to students, resident hall staff, and security monitors and others among many data collection aspects. Company staff will also meet with many on campus.
The university will be able to review an initial and second draft report in May. The company will then submit a final report with cost estimates.
Frank Pisciotta, the firm’s president, is a former head of security at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y., and has been certified as a security consultant by the International Association of Professional Security Consultants, according to a UMass release. The company has worked with Cornell and Bucknell universities, and the State University of New York at Buffalo and at Oswego.
TGS Solutions, which has a Boston office, and Risk Management Associates, of Raleigh, N.C., also met with the review committee.