What does a campus security officer do?
Campus security officers are uniform professionals who maintain the safety of students, faculty, and staff members at a college or university. These officers must perform patrols either by foot or using vehicles to monitor the behavior of students while maintaining order during events to prevent disturbances. They must ensure that the physical safety of campus buildings is being monitored by locking and unlocking doors and patrolling using surveillance systems. Campus security officers must also provide first aid while alerting appropriate emergency personnel when responding to any emergencies.
Campus security officer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real campus security officer resumes:
- Monitor building access- utilizing CCTV security systems.
- Assist in medical calls, to include minor first aid and CPR.
- Maintain alertness for problems likely to disrupt the educational process or to be injurious to persons or property.
- Patrol assign campus areas to prevent disruptive behavior and vandalism.
- Monitor CCTV cameras and respond to incidents and suspicious activity.
- Patrol and monitor assign parking areas to provide public security and assistance.
- Maintain a standard of punctuality and dependability of attendance and retain myself cleanliness, tidiness, neatness and appropriately attire.
- Perform personal escorts, VIP services, and experience in controlling and deescalating physical altercations and accidents among customers and personnel.
Campus security officer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Campus Security Officers are proficient in Customer Service, Patrol, and Security Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Empathy, Leadership skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Campus Security Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 31%
Provide customer service by enthusiastically providing services and information.
- Patrol, 12%
Patrol and monitor assigned parking areas to provide public security and assistance.
- Security Services, 8%
Provided security services for Vaughn College of Aeronautics.
- Public Safety, 7%
Assist in directing emergency evacuation or lock downs as directed by administrators and public safety agencies.
- CPR, 7%
Assist all Student and Staff with requests related to Security and or Medical (1ST AID and or CPR).
- Emergency Situations, 5%
Assume control of emergency situations in cooperation with medical professionals, fire/police agencies and/or senior administration.
"customer service," "patrol," and "security services" are among the most common skills that campus security officers use at work. You can find even more campus security officer responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a campus security officer to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what campus security officers relies on this skill, since "security guards and surveillance officers must communicate effectively with others, even in stressful situations." How this skill relates to campus security officer duties can be seen in an example from a campus security officer resume snippet: "communicate with dispatchers and university police during emergency situations using 10 code communication. "
The three companies that hire the most campus security officers are:
- Allied Universal119 campus security officers jobs
- Securitas AB25 campus security officers jobs
- McLean Hospital
9 campus security officers jobs
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Campus security officer vs. Officer
An officer is responsible for managing the daily operations of the assigned area, ensuring its peace and security by monitoring and reporting unusual and suspicious activities. Officers are the ones enforcing strict safety protocols and procedures to maintain the order within the premises. They also coordinate with law enforcement agencies in conducting appropriate investigations for any violating cases. An officer must be highly-knowledgeable of the law policies, as well as possessing excellent leadership skills to manage the members under the officer's patrol.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a campus security officer are more likely to require skills like "security services," "criminal justice," "aed," and "emergency response." On the other hand, a job as an officer requires skills like "powerpoint," "financial statements," "hr," and "incident reports." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, officers reach higher levels of education than campus security officers. Officers are 7.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Campus security officer vs. Security specialist
A security specialist is responsible for maintaining the security of an organization's database, ensuring that it's free from cyber threats and unusual activities. Security specialists' duties include upgrading hardware and software applications, configuring networks to improve optimization, addressing any unauthorized access on the database, troubleshooting system discrepancies, conducting security audits on the system, and improving automated processes. A security specialist must have a strong command of programming languages and system codes, as well as broad experience with technical expertise.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that campus security officer responsibilities requires skills like "aed," "emergency calls," "emergency response," and "safety hazards." But a security specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "ladders," "security incidents," "physical security," and "security clearance."
In general, security specialists achieve similar levels of education than campus security officers. They're 3.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Campus security officer vs. Security/customer service
A security/customer service is primarily in charge of enforcing security protocols in business establishments to prevent theft and protect properties and individuals. Part of their daily responsibilities is to patrol areas, keep an eye out for any suspicious activities or behavior, monitor security systems and cameras, and conduct regular inspections. They may also assist customers by answering inquiries, helping locate offices or stores, responding to distress, and resolving issues or concerns, ensuring customer satisfaction. Moreover, as security/customer service, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with co-workers, coordinating to keep order in the establishment.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from campus security officer resumes include skills like "criminal justice," "aed," "security industry," and "emergency response," whereas a security/customer service is more likely to list skills in "id," "customer issues," "customer satisfaction," and "customer interaction. "
Security/customer services earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $35,558. Campus security officers earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $34,089.Most security/customer services achieve a similar degree level compared to campus security officers. For example, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Campus security officer vs. Security
A Security's main responsibility is to keep people or an establishment safe. This responsibility is carried out by constantly patrolling a designated area and monitoring the activity within the premises. Most of the tasks involved are inspecting buildings and equipment, monitoring entry and exit points, reporting irregularities, responding to customers in distress, and other surveillance activities. The security is basically an establishment's first line of defense, this is why one must have good communication skills, keen observation and judgment, and as well as presence of mind.
Types of campus security officer
Updated January 8, 2025











