Ohio State police is now adding “steady, low-intensity” lights to their patrols vehicles in order to increase visibility for the community and deter crime, university spokesperson Nicole Holman said. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Lantern File Photo
The Ohio State University Police Department is launching a new cruise light pilot program following a unanimous Undergraduate Student Government resolution from the fall 2024 semester.
Per the resolution, which passed Nov. 13, 2024, on-campus patrol cars will now be equipped with “steady, low-intensity lights” on their sides to help officers be more noticeable and deter crime, university spokesperson Nicole Holman said in an email.
“This program increases visibility of our campus patrols to make our officers more accessible for anyone needing support,” Holman said.
The initiative was introduced and drafted by former USG Sen. Francesco Migliore, a third-year in natural resource management. He said he believes the program will help create a more secure campus by reducing crime in the area.
“I just wanted to see what input I could have in trying to make campus a safer place,” Migliore said.
With an associate’s degree in criminal justice administration from Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, and experience growing up in a family full of law enforcement officers, Migliore said he is no stranger to policing. He has applied theories he learned while earning his degree, along with his personal observations, to create programs Ohio State could use to decrease crime.
“It was just a matter of: Can we make police more visible so there would be a deterrent?” Migliore said.
Migliore said he first met Dennis Jeffrey, OSUPD’s then-newly appointed chief of police, at a campus protest in fall 2024, where he asked to discuss potential programs the university could implement to improve policing.
“He gave me his business card, and that led to a phone call where we went back and forth,” Migliore said. “I suggested cruise lights, and he said he thought it was a great idea. I drafted the resolution, brought it to student government — where it passed unanimously — and [Jeffrey] said, ‘Alright, we’ll get working on it.’”
Since Jeffrey’s promotion to chief of police in November 2024, he said he has remained dedicated to engaging with students and improving Ohio State’s wider community, according to a March 21 press release from Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety.
“This initiative also reflects the new police administration’s commitment to listening and responding to student concerns,” Jeffrey said in the release. “I’m proud to see this step being taken to build a safer, more connected campus.”
Beyond the new cruise light program, Ohio State has hired more officers, expanded its joint patrol program with the Columbus Division of Police and retained security programs like the Buckeye Block Watch to monitor off-campus areas, Holman said.
