After a gunman burst into a lecture hall and opened fire at Northern Illinois University last month, many students have asked if universities should lock down their campuses during emergencies.
But at UW-Madison, where the student body is close to double NIU's, campus security officials have deemed a lockdown policy infeasible and instead stress the importance of prevention, education and threat assessment.
There's a rush to assume that locking doors is the right approach to every scenario,"" UW System Spokesperson David Giroux said.
""But, if you have a shooter out in the open and you lock the doors, you may actually block people from seeking safety.""
In April 2007, a month after the tragedy at Virginia Tech University, UW System President Kevin Reilly formed a security commission to review and make recommendations for security policies of campuses across Wisconsin. UW Police Chief Susan Riseling chaired the commission and presented the report at a Board of Regents meeting in July 2007.
The commission's final plan outlined 17 major recommendations for UW campuses. The recommendations called for awareness campaigns, more advanced training for intervention, better distribution of campus safety information and improved monitoring of suspicious behavior.
""We've put into place a system-wide approach that addresses security issues at a broad level,"" Giroux said.
""We do require each UW campus to have in place a general plan, but the actual procedures to respond to a given emergency are to be enacted at a local level.""
To help implement many of the commission recommendations, UWPD hired former UW-Madison Police Captain Debra Hettrick in September 2007.
According to Hettrick, UW-Madison already had many of the security recommendations in place, such as armed police officers, mental health counselors and a multidisciplinary review team to track troubled students, faculty and staff.
""Part of the problem at Virginia Tech was that people were scared to share warning signs because they worried about confidentiality codes. We're educating people that with safety concerns, they should definitely share information,"" Hettrick said.
To help improve crisis communications, the UWPD has developed a mass e-mail system as well as a Facebook alert program, which were used during last September's suicide scare at the UW Hospital and during a robbery incident on North Park Street.
In addition, Hettrick said she has helped produce a presentation called ""Avenger Violence"" that teaches about behavioral ""red flags"" to look for in people. The program, which will be open to the campus community in March 2008, also includes strategies for survival in the presence of an active shooter.
""It'll be available to buildings, departments and residence halls - basically any group that wants to hear it,"" Hettrick said.
""It is definitely something worthwhile for campus awareness.""
The UWPD has also worked with the Madison Police Department to better assess potential threats and coordinate communication.
""I don't know if we'll be able to identify all potential threats or people in crisis, but a lot has improved and we're now better prepared to identify target people,"" MPD Captain Mary Schauf said.
Schauf said that in case of a campus emergency, the UWPD officers would respond first and the MPD would serve to assist them.
Schauf added that in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech and NIU, the MPD has trained officers to switch radio frequencies in order to communicate with police officers in other departments around campus.
""In a time of crisis, this communications coordination is time very well spent. From a tactical police response approach, it really helps when we're all on the same page and sharing information,"" Schauf said.
The UWPD stresses that the best way to prevent an emergency situation at UW-Madison is for people to know how to identify troublesome individuals and to feel comfortable reporting their behavior to the proper authorities.
""What we need to do is get the awareness and education out for faculty, staff and students so that they will be prepared personally in the event of an active shooter like we saw at Virginia Tech and NIU,"" Hettrick said.
More information on university security procedures and awareness programs can be found at www.uwpd.wisc.edu.
