Oswego City Police Educate Students Via 3 P’s Program

OSWEGO – Earlier this month, the Oswego City Police Department brought back its Three P’s program to help educate SUNY Oswego students who live off-campus.

The program began in 2020 as mere pamphlets that would hang on doorknobs of student houses to help the students  be good neighbors and have an overall positive relationship with the community and city police.

“[In the] beginning of the semester, we were able to see and talk to the students,” said Officer Chelsea Giovo. “It’s nice to see their faces and actually answer questions face-to-face [compared to last year] …  When they reviewed it, they’re able to say, ‘Oh I have a question about this or this.’ It’s a great way to educate rather than enforce right off the bat.”

Last year due to COVID-19, the Oswego City Police could not have that face-to-face interaction, as it had to just leave the information at the front door; however, the department has been communicating with students for many years prior to 2020.

According to Giovo, there was always “some sort of outreach program.” The new 3 P’s program was established by Police Chief Phil Cady as a way to communicate with students during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was harder to talk to people in person.

The three P’s are parties, parking and premises.

According to Giovo, the police will enforce social gathering size limits based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. She added that it is important to be mindful of neighbors, considering some may have young children or need to go to bed early.

“Being a good neighbor should be a priority because … all the college houses aren’t all next to each other,” said Giovo. “Just being respectful because they could be next to a family with little kids or someone that has got to get up early in the morning … I think that’s the main key point, just be aware of your surroundings.”

Parking is a bit more straightforward, as the police’s main message is to not block sidewalks or driveways. The final P, premises, reminds students to be good neighbors, shovel sidewalks and keep garbage cans off the sidewalk or road until the night before garbage pickup. 

Giovo, who works in the community-oriented policing unit for the Oswego Police Department, looks at the Three P’s as a way to be proactive and introduce herself to the students.

“More interaction and obviously last year was tough because of COVID, but I felt like they could ask me questions because they saw I was trying to educate,” Giovo said. “Something that I noticed over the years of doing this, a lot of students would ask if something was wrong when we got there whereas last year, this year, they knew what we were there for.”

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