University to improve emergency response methods
By Shelley Marier
Lance Writer
March 12, 2008
With 17 school shootings on university campuses across North America since 1966, the University of Windsor is responding with an emergency response plan that they hope it will be a model for the rest of the country.
The Virginia Tech school shooting and the more recent Feb. 14 shooting at Northern Illinois University has made the university more aware of changes that need to be made to its own policies and procedures regarding emergency planning.
Senior administration at the university decided to hire special constable Chris Zelezney from Campus Community Police to be responsible for emergency management.
“I’m really excited about the progress we are making,” said Zelezney. “I not only want to do this well, I want us to be a model for other universities.”
Zelezney feels that the University of Windsor is a safe campus, but that it is not 100 per cent immune to anything. “We don’t want to be lulled into a false sense of security,” he admitted.
Prevention is a top priority on campus right now. “Sometimes school shootings can be prevented, and sometimes they can’t be,” said Zelezney. “You have to be able to pre-identify [a situation] before it happens.”
Campus Community Police have had a violence prevention program for the past four years that they use to train faculty and staff on campus to pre-identify people that may dangerous. This allows the police to intervene and help the people access the services they need.
The university also has recently developed the Students of Concern Committee. This committee discusses complex cases and develops policies and procedures regarding student mental health and disruptive behaviours.
The committee will be able to pre-identify a student that may commit a violent act on campus and deal with the issue before it becomes a bigger problem. If a faculty member is concerned with a student and feels that they may commit an act of violence on campus, they can contact Campus Community Police who will bring it forward to the committee.
Dr. Mohsan Beg, a clinical psychologist and director of the Student Counselling Centre at the university, is also very dedicated to the prevention student-led violence on campus. “It’s not always a matter of putting prevention measures in place, if someone is determined to do something, they will,” said Beg, “but we’re doing our part to ensure that we are doing as much as we can to prevent that.”
“With the case of Virginia Tech, a lot of people suspected something, but no one was talking about it,” said Beg, who after the shooting was contacted by professors that wanted advice on what to do with disturbing papers and exams they had received from students.
“The university is also looking at the voluntary and involuntary medical withdrawal policies so that people that are not medically well enough to be here, whether it is physically or mentally, and [who] are going to be a risk to themselves or others...stay off campus until they get better,” added Beg.
One of the areas in need of revamping at the university is the emergency mass notification system. “We are looking at several products to be used for mass notifications, including contacting students, faculty, and staff through text messages and not just e-mail,” said Zelezney.
Campus Community Police is also working on a way that they can take over every computer on campus to send out emergency messages. “We have to make sure that we don’t put all of our eggs in one basket” said Zelezney.
Alternate command centres both on and off campus will be in used so that in case the police are unable to access one of the command centres that run the mass notification system, they will still be able to contact students, staff, and faculty in case of an emergency. People from across campus departments have also been established as response teams in the case of an emergency.
Although Campus Community Police has a plan for situations where there may be an active shooter on campus, Zelezney agrees that students need to be better educated on what to do.
When students hear a siren, they often do not know how to respond. There must also be a way that a message can be broadcasted across campus that lets students know what is going on, what they should do, and where they should go.
“If you find yourself in a situation where there is an active shooter and there is a chance to escape, absolutely, you should escape,” said Zelezney. “If there is no chance to escape, your best bet may to find shelter, it all depends on the situation.”
Emergency phones are available in all high profile buildings on campus to notify the police, and if there was a gunman on campus students will be notified through the mass notification system.
Campus Community Police has tested various emergency scenarios by using different emergency notification systems on a small scale. These tests allow for revisions to emergency response plans. According to Zelezney, “You’ve got to test, and you’re only as good as how well you test your plan.” Long term emergency management includes potentially using the St. Denis Centre and the Red Cross as evacuation centres and holding classes off campus if necessary.
The Student Counselling Centre along with people from the community and neighbouring universities in fields such as nursing, social work, and psychology will be brought in to assist with students if a campus-wide emergency, such as a shooting, were to occur.
Begs warns that individuals should be alert to those who jokingly say they are going to commit a violent act. “You should always take it seriously if someone is threatening to do something.”
There are numerous warning signs that indicate someone may be planning a violent attack. According to Beg, the number one warning sign to look out for is a sudden change in behaviour. This includes individuals who have a sudden change in their mood, who have grades that are dropping, and who are talking about committing acts of violence. “Never be afraid to ask them what is going on, and never be afraid to get them some help,” stressed Beg.
“If you suspect something suspicious about someone, let us know, give us a call, and we’ll be able to intervene and get the person the help they need before it develops into something that will put other students in danger,” said Zelezney. “We have a memorial on our campus [dedicated to the 14 female victims of a 1989 shooting at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal] and we don’t want there to be any more memorials on any other campus.”
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