{"id":383,"date":"2023-05-16T02:52:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T02:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/?page_id=383"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:43:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:43:49","slug":"public-safety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/about-us\/departments\/public-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Departmental Objective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>The SWVMHI Department of Public Safety Officers have jurisdiction on the main campus and off of the grounds, as indicated in the court order as sworn by a Smyth County Circuit Court Judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The major responsibility of the Public Safety Officers is to assist in any situation that involves the safety, security, and welfare of the staff, visitors, and individuals we serve. Additionally, the Department of Public Safety Officers enforce state laws at the facility, serve court papers, and serve as bailiffs during court hearings.  SWVMHI also has mutual aid agreements and work closely with all other EMS, Fire, and local Law Enforcement Agencies in order to provide a safe and secure environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"891\" height=\"1187\" src=\"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/04\/Peterson.David-2024.jpg\" alt=\"David Peterson - Public Safety Investigator\" class=\"wp-image-1277\" style=\"width:218px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/04\/Peterson.David-2024.jpg 891w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/04\/Peterson.David-2024-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/04\/Peterson.David-2024-769x1024.jpg 769w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2024\/04\/Peterson.David-2024-768x1023.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 891px) 100vw, 891px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><a href=\"mailto:david.peterson@dbhds.virginia.gov\">David Peterson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Chief of Public Safety<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">276-706-3508<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Halsey.Travis-2025-769x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1593\" style=\"width:218px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Halsey.Travis-2025-769x1024.jpg 769w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Halsey.Travis-2025-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Halsey.Travis-2025-768x1023.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/Halsey.Travis-2025.jpg 976w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-luminous-vivid-orange-color has-text-color has-medium-font-size\"><a data-type=\"mailto\" data-id=\"mailto:\" href=\"mailto:david.peterson@dbhds.virginia.gov\">Travis Halsey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"font-size: revert;text-align: center\">Public Safety<\/span> Investigator<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">276-706-3508<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Departmental Objective The SWVMHI Department of Public Safety Officers have jurisdiction on the main campus and off of the grounds, as indicated in the court order as sworn by a Smyth County Circuit Court Judge. The major responsibility of the Public Safety Officers is to assist in any situation that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":166,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-383","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Public Safety - SWVMHI | DBHDS<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dbhds.virginia.gov\/facilities\/swvmhi\/about-us\/departments\/public-safety\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public Safety - SWVMHI | DBHDS\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Departmental Objective The SWVMHI Department of Public Safety Officers have jurisdiction on the main campus and off of the grounds, as indicated in the court order as sworn by a Smyth County Circuit Court Judge. 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