Public Safety increases parking patrols

One of the biggest issues that Claflin Public Safety deals with yearly is parking.

2023 has not been easier with the occurrence of vehicle break-ins on campus.

“One of the things that occurs throughout the city are individuals who will prey on others,” Claflin University Public Safety Chief Melvin Williams said in a news conference with Panther reporters. “They go around and they check vehicles that are left unlocked and go through those vehicles to take what they can get.”

Public Safety officers are taking steps to prevent further break-ins.

Additional officers will patrol the gym parking lot on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, Williams said.

Further, a driver will have to have a Claflin ID to gain access to the gym parking lot, Williams said.

With the school steadily expanding and the coming addition of the new student center, more parking locations will be needed, Williams said.

Asked about potential parking lots for the student center at Magnolia and Goff, Williams said, “That is one of the questions that we continue to ask. We have community coming, we don’t have a definitive answer to that yet.”