This year’s Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF commencement ceremony will have the same level of security as last year’s event, a DPS official said.

The reason for keeping the level the same is that this year’s commencement speaker, Mary Karr, is similar to last year’s speaker, David Remnick, in that she is not very well known or controversial, said Vern Thompson, day patrol operations and event commander for the Department of Public Safety.

Karr is an award-winning poet and SU professor, while Remnick is the editor of The New Yorker. The 2015 commencement ceremony is set to take place on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the Carrier Dome.

Speakers that are more widely known or contentious need more security because there is an increased risk, Thompson said.

“We haven’t had any threats out there for us to alter or change from last year’s plan,” he said. “Last year was a great event. It worked out well.”

Previous commencement speakers such as Vice President Joe Biden in 2009 and former President Bill Clinton in 2003 have needed extra security. In 2013, DPS heightened security efforts as a result of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

If there is a last minute security threat this year, plans can change, Thompson added.

“We’re very flexible with that,” he said.

DPS works with many different law enforcement agencies as well as many groups to provide a full security detail, since DPS does not have the capability to do everything itself, Thompson said. He added that DPS will “have a big presence on campus.”

To prepare for the commencement ceremony, DPS works with the Department of Homeland Security as well as other national, state and local security forces to determine if there are any threats or any potential dangers, Thompson said.

“We make sure there isn’t anything out there that Homeland Security is getting through their offices that we should know about,” he said.

Thompson said DPS starts meeting with other departments in the winter to try and figure out who the commencement speaker is. From there, they assess any potential threats based on the potential speakers.

DPS also works with the Syracuse Police Department and SU Parking and Transit Services in order to direct the influx of traffic and to make sure the parking lots are manned and staffed, Thompson said.

DPS and SPD officers will also be checking bags using metal-detector wands as attendees enter the event, he said.

The traffic detail and the bag check, Thompson added, will be the same as a sporting event in the Carrier Dome.

“Hopefully it will be a nice, safe event,” he said. “That’s what we want.”

Published on May 7, 2015 at 8:00 am

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu