SWC’s first active shooter drill was not very active. Though it was a necessary first step, the Keystone Cops affair demonstrates that our college has serious work to do and may not have adequate leadership in our PD.
Although exceedingly rare, data shows mass shootings are on the rise in the United States. Because of this, an effective and well-understood active shooter policy has become a vital part of any school’s emergency action plan. The SWC Police Department’s active shooter drill was a positive step for the district in acknowledging and preparing for the worst, but their actions, in policy and practice, leave much to be desired.
The drill was conducted in the isolated 1600 buildings, a short hike up the hill and as out-of-the-way as the campus gets. SWC Chief of Police Michael Cash said security personnel had prior knowledge of where the drill area was, something unrealistic in an actual incident. Student and faculty compliance was sketchy at best, with some professors participating while others not. Along Jaguar Walk and in the cafeteria it was business as usual.
Of greater concern is the district’s amateurish policy regarding active shooters. The plan is confounding, convoluted and counterintuitive. It is also unnecessarily difficult to locate. No active-shooter policy is listed on the school’s website, nor is one available under the Police Department tab.
The policy can be found by clicking “Emergency Information” on the school’s homepage, which brings up the Emergency Preparedness menu under the Police Department tab. No active shooter policy is listed. SWC’s Emergency Response and Procedures Manual is listed and that is where the active shooter policy can be found, unlisted in the manual’s table of contents, buried on page 64.
Included in the policy are instructions for students to barricade themselves in classrooms, attempt escape through windows, and, chillingly, make life-or-death decisions on whether or not to rush the shooter.
Also recommended are counterintuitive instructions, such as not to hide in bathrooms or flee to parking lots. The latter is particularly confounding at a school ringed by parking lots.
PD’s SWC complete failure to protect women on campus and deal with sexual assault does not inspire confidence in its ability to maintain safety on campus. Cash’s laughable letter to the editor in this issue is case in point.
An active shooter policy should be easy to locate on the college’s webpage. The district should clarify the recommendations in the policy and mandate they be included on the syllabus of every instructor. Our police department needs to follow-up on its training and strive for ways to improve their response. It must also involve students and faculty. SWC has a large student population that varies term-to-term, so it is imperative these drills take place at least once a semester.
Students and faculty have the right to a reasonable expectation of safety, which includes knowing how their police department will react if the unthinkable occurs. It is important for students and faculty respond to the survey the Admissions Office emailed after the drill, because, as Cash correctly pointed out, cooperation between students, faculty and the PD is vital.