Education, Public Safety, Higher Education

Campus Police Lockers

Storing long guns and duty bags in limited space.

September 10th, 2020 - less than a minute read

Campus police departments are similar to other law enforcement organizations. Their mission is to promote a safe and secure campus environment and maintain good relationships with the people they serve. Campus police officers have similar gear requirements, too, with gear bags, weapons, and other assigned equipment. Campus police also, unfortunately, often have issues with inadequate storage.

An Out-Of-Date Facility

This large state university’s police facility was so cramped and out of date that leadership actually added renovations and deferred maintenance into the department’s strategic plan. The improvements were needed to ensure that officers could continue to provide a high level of service to the campus community.

Securing Weapons and Duty Bags

When the time came to start planning renovations, adding campus police lockers for long guns and duty bags in the patrol briefing area was the department’s top priority. With no place to securely store long guns, officers were required to transport them to and from work in their personal vehicles. Aside from being a hassle, this arrangement presented obvious security issues. In addition, the department had open shelving for officers to store duty bags during their off hours, but the cubbies were unsecured and gear could get “borrowed” or lost.

The briefing area had limited space, but officers needed a way to securely store their long guns in their cases, as well as their duty bags. They wanted one lock and one door that would provide access to both items at once.

campus police z locker
university security equipment locker
Campus police lockers in a ‘Z-Locker’ design save space and keep gear secure.

Two-In-One Campus Police Lockers

Their local Spacesaver consultant worked with Spacesaver’s engineers to design “Z Lockers” that met all the requirements. The width of the lockers was only 18” for two users, which allowed 30 units with 60 total compartments to fit in the room. Each officer’s long gun and duty bag are secured near the patrol briefing area and both items are stored in a single locker unit with one lock.

Lock Options

Spacesaver offers a variety of lock options, and the officers opted for lock hasps. The hasps were initially intended to be placed at waist height, but the internal locking mechanism would have collided with the gun cases. Officers decided that being able to store the guns in the cases was worth the minor inconvenience of some officers needing to bend down to access the locks. Bases elevate the lockers off the floor.

campus locker options

Campus Space Planning Insights

Universities are like small cities, with a variety of facilities from libraries and sports arenas to police departments and hospitals. That’s why campus space management is so important.

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