Morgan State prepares to open its new Public Safety Building
Morgan State University prepares to open its new Public Safety building Fall in the newly renovated Northwood Commons shopping center. The opening marks an increased surveillance capacity for the MSU police department.
Morgan State University’s Public Safety building, located in the Northwood Commons shopping center.
October 31, 2022
Morgan State University’s new Public Safety Building is in its last phase of construction until it turns over to the university’s ownership.
The new department will replace the Washington Service Center as the official Morgan State police station.
Lance Hatcher, chief of the Morgan State University Police Department said that the new building’s increased technological capacity will help the department to better monitor campus.
“Anything that happens on campus such as special events or emergency events, we are able to monitor and process through the Emergency Operation Center, a technology-based center that allows access to cameras on campus from one centralized location,” said Hatcher.
He added that the Morgan State University Police Department is expected to move into the building the first week of November, and the building will likely open to the public the following week.
Morgan partnered with Commercial Construction Group to build the Public Safety Building. Clay Devaughn, assistant project manager of Commercial Construction Group believes the new station will be a hub for Morgan’s campus.
“No matter if you are having a problem at CBEIS [Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies Building] or Montebello [Complex], the police department got to be able to be notified,” she said. “They have to be in a strategic location to be able to help everybody.”
Morgan State President David Wilson announced at the Fall 2022 President’s Town Hall that the building is still undergoing technology installations and that the entire Northwood Commons center will be finished by Spring.
“There will be a huge grand opening of the entire [Northwood Commons] center when everything is finished, which perhaps was going to be late spring this [academic] year,” he said.
Devaughn said that businesses will thrive at Northwood Commons since the new center is more convenient for students to shop.
“All the stores would benefit from Morgan and the students will benefit from the presence of the police department,” said Devaughn.