AMHERST — As an influx of thousands of college students begins this week, public safety and town officials say they are prepared for their arrival.
Police Chief Scott Livingstone said his department has taken many of the usual steps to inform students about expectations when they venture off campus, especially freshmen, who will be the first to arrive in Amherst and won’t have classes until Tuesday. Officers have already talked to these students during new student orientation during the summer and held meetings with athletes.
The department will also hold “know your rights” seminars with fraternities and sororities, and will set up a booth at the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the first week.
Off campus, the collaboration between Amherst Police and its neighborhood liaison officers and UMass Police and the university’s neighborhood liaison, will continue with community policing through environmental design. A new fence is in place at Townehouse Apartments, the second placed on the Meadow Street property that aims to cut down on the large parties that have plagued that site.
“We want gatherings to be smaller and more respectful, and for neighbors to feel safer,” Livingstone said.
This community policing work will also bring additional lighting to Hobart Lane.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman told the Select Board that police have been proactive in engaging with students, especially freshmen, and setting ground rules for behavior.
The Fire Department will also be staffed up on Labor Day weekend
The university announced Monday that it will, for the fifth year in a row, provide money to expand ambulance service during the fall and spring semesters, with $80,000 pledged. Two additional ambulances can run on many Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as a result.
“We continue to support the partnership financially, and as good neighbors want to help ensure the safety of all residents,” Nancy Buffone, associate vice chancellor for University Relations, said in a statement. “The additional funding provided to the Amherst Fire Department will allow for increased ambulance staffing during busier weekends, helping to meet that goal.”
The money supplements the $420,000, calculated on a per-call formula, for ambulance service.
Fire Chief Tim Nelson said he is not worried his department will be overwhelmed, noting that it is customary for call volume to increase with more people in town.
Bockelman also noted that the university is aware of the protests and counterprotests taking place nationally and the possibility that Amherst could experience issues similar to the violence seen in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“That’s just good management and paying attention to things,” Bockelman said.
UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski said free speech is a core value at UMass and of public higher education. Even so, the university will be ready to deal with any issues that arise from rallies and protests.
“We don’t believe there is any conflict philosophically between free speech and maintaining civility and order,” Blaguszewski said.
“Behaviors that can lead to potential violence are a concern to all institutions and universities,” Blaguszewski said.
The business community will welcome back students with the Adventure Into Amherst Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., when some 2,000 freshmen are expected to visit downtown for a scavenger hunt, with businesses encouraged to offer free samples, coupons and other giveaways.
A high school band, Glass House, will perform and Hoop Joy will be showcase hoops at Kendrick Park.
