When LSUPD officers were not busting students for destruction of property or possession of cigarette butts this semester, they were busy addressing the issue of sexual assault and promoting on-campus safety via their Shield smartphone app.
In September, Capt. Cory Lalonde and his team of officers launched the iOS, Android compatible emergency app and its “Safety Beacon” feature, an automated protocol option for users in emergency situations.
Lalonde, spokesperson for LSUPD, previously told The Daily Reveille the app’s purpose was to provide students, faculty and staff members with another way of more quickly reporting crime. Before the app’s arrival, LSUPD officers were the only ones who could do any crime reporting via its e-text system.
Since the app’s installment, Lalonde said the University’s Auxiliary Services and students have widely promoted and supported the app and made it accessible to people in the surrounding areas of Baton Rouge. 
“LSUPD does the best it can to send out information that is accurate and timely, and I believe we have, so far, accomplished what the system is intended for,” Lalonde said.
LSUPD also made efforts to assist the University and SmokingWords adviser Judith Sylvester with enforcing the University’s tobacco-free policy, that went into effect Aug. 1. However, it was something the department was unable to accomplish since smoking is not, in technical terms, illegal.
“Law enforcement enforces law, not policy,” Lalonde told The Daily Reveille in August. “And as of now, there are no laws making smoking illegal or worthy of penalty.”
According to Lalonde, the types of crime officers combated on game days throughout the 2014 football season were similar to those in previous years. 
Theft of items — like student football tickets and money — and battery were the dominant forms of crime.
Lalonde said LSUPD officers anticipated events like these. However, because of the number of people who came to campus for each game, he said they were well prepared.
Since the Ferguson, Missouri,  shooting in August and the installment of Middleton Library’s 24/5 operating hours, Lalonde said LSUPD has taken additional safety precautions that officers will carry out in the coming semesters at the University.
These precautions include more frequent training for emergency events that involve volunteer students and faculty members, as well as  greater officer visibility on campus and in surrounding areas.
“We don’t have the luxury to train or plan for it if something happens,” Lalonde said. “We have to prepare as if it would be when something happens, and that’s what we are in the process of doing.”