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Threat Assessment and Response an Ongoing Process
Like many universities across the country, we recognize that the Virginia Tech University tragedy provides an opportunity to learn from that situation and enhance our current safety and emergency operation plans. A preliminary assessment by Maryland's Incident Response Team reinforces the soundness of our layered security and a detailed emergency response plan. In addition, it confirms the robustness of our primary prevention and threat assessment systems. The early review also points to opportunities to educate the community about resources used in emergency situations, and to increase our redundancy with newly available tools.First, let me remind everyone that we have a very sound program already in place. The University has invested substantially and wisely to create a tiered system that anticipates, identifies, and quickly responds to threats in the environment.
It provides a multi-layered approach to safety and security, including: (1) the gate system, which screens vehicles attempting to enter campus each night; (2) the capacity to electronically lock all academic and administrative buildings from the Police Emergency Communications Center; (3) a keyless card access system for exterior doors of every residence hall (4) card access for interior barrier doors, which prevents access from the lobby areas of residence halls; and (5) a deadbolt installed on room doors.
In addition, we have an excellent Emergency Operations Plan that anticipates many threats and contingencies. (You can view the plan on the Emergency Preparedness site, off the home page.) Training goes hand-in-hand with the plan to maintain readiness. Police officers are trained and routinely drill in mass-casualty incidents, requiring coordination among the university, Public Safety, Athletics, Fire Department, EMS, and local area police agencies. Periodic threat exercises allow us to test our ability to stop or manage all traffic entering or leaving campus. Officers are trained in and are proficient in the "Active Shooter" program.
Emergencies can also be avoided with effective prevention and threat assessment tools. Our tactical Threat Assessment Team includes officers who are specially trained in the analysis of persons involved in unusual, disruptive, or criminal activity on the campus. It works collaboratively with the university's Behavior Evaluation Threat Assessment unit (BETA), which serves as a coordinator of information among faculty and university departments, i.e., Police, Resident Life, Counseling, Student Conduct, etc.
We recognize that no emergency plan and prevention system is fail-safe, so we have many tools to notify the community in case of imminent danger. In the aftermath of September 11 and Hurricane Isabel, we added an Early Warning Siren System, tested monthly, and StormReady Systems to provide another level of campus-wide communication. The siren can be used in addition to a wide range of communication vehicles to ensure that everyone is kept informed, including: campus-wide email and voicemail, the university web site, and other mass communication systems. We have also previously explored state-of-the-art communications tools, with broad text messaging capabilities that allow the university to quickly and accurately communicate a campus emergency—civil or natural—to students, faculty, staff, and parents. The events in Blacksburg have clearly made acquiring such technology a much higher priority.
These resources would be used for Campus Notifications in the event of an imminent or unfolding emergency. Such notifications are completely different from the process of disseminating Crime Alerts, which identify specific crimes that have already occurred, and which do not rise to the level of an emergency. In Crime Alerts, the suspect is unknown and the threat to the university community can be lessened by informing the community. To that end, we distribute known information about the suspect or the circumstances of the crime that allow our community to make decisions and/or take steps to avoid situations or recognize suspects or their behavior.
No tool or tactic will work effectively alone. But, together, they offer a measure of confidence that we are thinking through threats that may come to our campus.
Still, if we have learned anything from this week's tragic events, it is that even under the very best of circumstances and with the best equipment and vigilance, nothing is foolproof. They need to work in tandem, and we must all be better educated about their meaning and the appropriate response once they are activated.
With this in mind, we must continue to work together to create and sustain a healthy, safe and secure environment today and for the future.
Kenneth Krouse
Chief
UM Public Safety
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