University of Maryland Preparedness

The University of Maryland Department of Public Safety (UMDPS) automatically implements response protocols based upon the current threat level at the national and local level to mitigate risk at this institution. These response protocols activate different levels of operational activities undertaken by the UMDPS to provide enhanced services to the community and to engage the community in a collaborative state of vigilance against threatening activities. The UMDPS wants to make you aware of the impact that a heightened state of alert has to the campus community by providing general information about the institutional response the campus can expect and what is expected of community members during these uncertain times.

The University of Maryland and the UMDPS have established the infrastructure necessary to implement the following steps to improve the state of preparedness during critical incidents that occur on campus:

• Through extensive past training, established an emergency response based on federally designed Incident Command System protocols;
  
  
• Implemented a Disaster Response Protocol model based upon an Incident Response Team comprised of high level campus administrators, an Emergency Operations Center comprised of major resource holders, and an Incident Command System team comprised of UMDPS officers trained to coordinate on-scene activities at major incidents;
  
  
• Implemented an Early Warning System Emergency Siren Program to provide instant notification of the campus community to imminent dangerous conditions. Upon hearing the Early Warning System Siren activate, campus community members should:
  
  
  • Seek shelter within the closest building;
  • Seek information about the emergency from the following resources;
    • www.umd.edu
    • WMUC 88.1
    • 1640 AM
    • 301-405 SNOW (x57669)
    • Residential Campus Cable Channel 76
    • Academic Campus Cable Channel 40

For the duration of any heightened threat condition, the UMDPS will engage in the following activities on a daily basis to augment normal safety and security activities:

Maintain an institutional liaison with local, state, and federal agencies to facilitate information sharing with the campus community; and,

Provide increased uniformed police officer visibility at designated areas and during campus special events;

What You Can Do as a Community Member

We are calling upon you as a member of the community to be vigilant in immediately reporting suspicious activity that you observe on campus. Your intimate knowledge of personal space and areas you frequent on campus enable you to best judge persons or conditions that are out of place or suspicious. When you observe anything that seems out of the ordinary, we encourage you to immediately call the UMDPS at x911 from a campus phone or 301-405-3333 from off campus or cell phones. Your assistance in alerting us to suspicious conditions, events, or persons is a critical component of maintaining a safe and secure campus and the UMDPS is dependant on a collaborative campus community to successfully maintain safety at this institution.

Concerns have been raised about the availability of food and water in cases of emergency and general advisements for individuals to stock emergency rations in the event of an emergency. The University has purchased enough provisions to last for approximately three days. While this institution has access to water and food staples from commercial vendors, it would be impossible to stock these items for over 10,000 people for any more than a short duration. Depending upon the nature of the emergency, dissemination of food and water may take up to 24 hours. We encourage you to keep your own supply of food and water to last for this interim period. You should also consider keeping items such as a flashlight, spare batteries, a portable radio, medicine, and other necessary personal supplies. In the event of a campus emergency, we will utilize all available state and federal disaster relief agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to provide food and water should an emergency arise.

Providing information about all disaster scenarios is impossible given the variety of potential threats that might occur. I encourage you to learn more about preparing for specific emergencies by visiting the websites listed below:

• http://www.mema.domestic-preparedness.net/alerts.html (MEMA overview of the MD Threat Alert System and guidance for citizens, businesses, and schools)
• http://www.mdsp.org/cybertip.html (Maryland State Police Counter Terrorism Cyber Tip site)
• http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/hsas.html (American Red Cross Homeland Security Advisory System)
• http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/security.pdf (FEMA site dealing with national security emergencies and terrorism)

I hope that this correspondence helps to allay some of your fears in this uncertain time, and provides information that you find useful regarding the institutions commitment to providing the safest community possible. I also hope that your role in our collective efforts to maintain the safety of the campus has been clarified. If questions arise, I encourage you to call our Public Information Officer, Major Cathy Atwell at 301-641-8679 or e-mail her at catwell@umpd.umd.edu.

Kenneth W. Krouse
Chief of Police/Director of Public