| Show As protects you there are things you can do Stephen Walker Contributing Writer Over 33 students and faculty faculty faculty ty were killed and many others others others oth oth- ers wounded on Apr 17 2007 by a single gunman in one of the bloodiest campus massacres massacres massacres massa massa- cres in United States history The tragedy at Virginia Tech was far reaching It prompted campuses around the nation to beef up security measures in order to protect students like many schools is not immune to the plague of crime Criminal activity nearly doubled in many areas from 2007 to 2008 See 2007 2008 comparisons below The most common violations violations violations vio vio- lations on campus ampus are ha ha- and threats said Sergeant Phil Waters Waters Waters Wa Wa- Utah Highway Patrol Harassments and threats cases are way up That can be any thing tiling from froma a girlfriend boyfriend situation situation situation situa situa- tion they broke up hes he's tex- tex ting her and following her around or someone is leaving leaving leaving leav leav- ing notes on your car Someone Someone Someone Some Some- I one told you to f foff ff in hi the parking lot Lots of things can fall under that category How can students protect themselves from harassments or or threats Students need to tobe tobe tobe be aware of their environ- environ Continue Continued on J J Crime on onca ca campus Continued fromAl from Al ment where they are areat areat aret at t what they are doing do do- ing mg and always be on alert said Shane Crabtree Crabtree Crabtree Crab- Crab tree director of Parking and Security Services Most of the campuses campuses' campuses campuses' campuses campuses' cam cam- harassment and threat cases tend to be minor incidents is n nevertheless prep prepared prepared pre pre- p pared red for the worst One way is protecting students is by making policies policies policies poli poli- cies and guidelines that will be useful for these emergency situations President Bioteau president has made the policy that if there is a problem on any campus she wants to close all campuses until the problems problem's re resolved resolved resolved re- re solved said Crabtree Virginia Tech had two situations going on at atthe atthe atthe the same time and were we're not going to have that But what else is protect students from crime Simply isolating isolating isolating iso iso- lating campuses wont won't stop carnage fr from m hap hap- pening The college has put in place three main safety features apart from the security personnel emergency phone boxes doors that lock from the inside and the Student Emergency Alert System Due to technical technical technical tech tech- difficulties the emergency phone system system system tem isn't foolproof They emergency emergency emergency emer emer- gency phones are in every every ev ev- ery cry building and by fall they will all be up in operation operation operation op op- said Crabtree Right now now they are operating operating operating oper oper- as a paging system in case of an cy They give instructions instructions instructions about what to do or where to go The problem we have with them right now is they dont don't have a caller ID system It goes through the system The reason the phones are not completely up and running is because it does not tell the system where the call is coming from said Wa Wa- It lets the operator know that the Redwood Campus has received a call but does not pinpoint pinpoint pinpoint pin pin- point an exact location The campus does have an abundance of phones and they will all be up and running for the fall semester We have 27 of those boxes on this Redwood campus campus campus cam cam- pus said Cr Crabtree If a student is not near an emergency phone and has a cell phone handy there are other ways to report an emergency They students and faculty should contact contact contact con con- tact campus police at said Waters That goes di directly directly directly di- di to the highway dispatch 24 hours a day Also we have haven an n officer obligated and andon andon andon on campus 24 hours a day No matter how early early early ear ear- ly or late your class is you have protection During the school day if there is any trouble contact someone someone someone some some- one immediately If a student or faculty member is really concerned about safety there is a security officer on campus said Lieutenant Lieuten Lieuten- ant Fred C. C Baird Utah Highway Patrol There is also the highway patrol that can help as well Another feature re recently recently recently re- re installed was in inside inside inside in- in side door locks to prevent people from entering classrooms during lock- lock downs The faculty has the ability to lock classrooms classrooms classrooms class class- rooms from the inside for security purposes all been issued a key said Waters The college college college col col- lege took a great expense to change all those locks in every classroom The most recent protective protective protective pro pro- feature offered by is the Student Emergency Alert System Unfortunately students haven't responded to the colleges college's call to sign up We only have two percent of all our enrolled students signed up for the service service service ser ser- vice vice and its it's free to every student said Crabtree Students need to sign signup signup signup up for this free service service- it could save their life According to the Office Office Office Of Of- fice of Risk Management the purpose behind the system is to create an immediate immediate immediate im im- mediate channel of communication communication communication com com- so students and faculty can quickly react to an emergency situation This will pro pro- lives and property decrease damage and enhance communications so the college can resume its normal activities Every student should have ten points of contacts contacts contacts con con- said Crabtree We Weare Weare Weare are highly suggesting that all students opt into the system m because if theres there's an emergency like Virginia Virginia Virginia Vir Vir- ginia Tech the ability to know not to come to campus campus campus cam cam- pus is huge because they still had people coming our main objective to get people off campus and keep people away from campus if we have a mass emergency The Student Emergency cy Alert System is located located located ed on students' students account and will take less than five minutes to fill out It is located under the student tab at atthe atthe atthe the bottom of the page see the photo below Each student student student stu stu- dent should list up to ten numbers or data prefer prefer- After all the information information information in in- formation is completed push submit and the information will be entered entered entered en en- into the system The goal of having this system is to inform students of danger as soon as possible This is done by the system sending multiple messages messages messages mes mes- sages to the students in inthe inthe inthe the case of an emergency When they do dothe dothe dothe the test I get a message message message mes mes- sage to my office phone my cell phone text on my cell phone an email on my college account account account ac ac- count and an email on on my state account said W Wa a t e r s s. s What a student can cando cando cando do to help out around the school is just to be aware of your environment environment environment environ environ- ment and know your exit routes said Crabtree If you need to walk out with someone walk out with someone If someone someone someone some some- one doesn't look right report it That's a part of being aware about what's going on around you As the new school year starts in fall students and faculty alike need to take safety measures Be observant alert and aware The best way to lower 2009 crime statistics statistics statistics statis statis- tics is to community community community watchdogs by using eyes and ears and reporting reporting reporting report report- ing anything suspicious |
