The police chiefs of Georgia Southern University and Armstrong State University (ASU) have met to discuss how the consolidation between the institutions could affect the campuses’ public safety departments.

“I’m trying to get the positives of both departments and pull them together so when we create one combined department, it’s going to be better than the two separate departments were,” Laura McCullough, GS Chief of Police, said.

McCullough intends to add additional positions to the ASU PD, such as full-time investigator.

Both departments’ day-to-day duties are similar, despite geographic and demographic differences, according to McCullough, who believes the larger size of GS Public Safety will benefit the smaller department at ASU.

The Armstrong Police Department’s (ASU PD) Cyber Forensics Division has received national recognition for its involvement in investigating cases in and out of Georgia.

“A bulk of our work is cell phones but, obviously, computers and hard drives as well,” Stuart Glasby, ASU cyber forensics investigator and analyst, said.

Beyond investigations, the ASU PD’s Cyber Forensics Division provides classes in which students can learn about cyber forensics, using the latest version of Forensics Recovery of Evidence Devices (FRED).

“This level of equipment and software does not exist in any other university outside of this police department,” Wayne Willcox, ASU police chief, said.

Both McCullough and Willcox would like to see the Cyber Forensics Division extended to the GS campus in the future.

“This is not something that you can get at every college,” McCullough said. “I think it is a huge benefit to the program.”

McCullough aims to complete consolidation efforts between the two police departments before Fall 2018.