At Tuesday afternoon’s University Council meeting, members were briefed on MSU’s campus security measures and what actions to take if faced with an active violence incident — a topic that has buzzed among faculty members for nearly two months, following the Dec. 2012 Newtown, Conn., school shooting.
An active violence incident, or AVI, can include an armed-gunman or explosive situation on campus, MSU police Inspector Penny Fischer said during her presentation.
At the meeting, she urged individuals to be informed of campus surroundings, know the layouts of buildings, stay informed by signing up for MSU Alerts and report any suspicious activity to MSU police.
“We have to empower our community of what to do if there are no other options available to you,” Fischer said to council members.
“What we have also learned is they are very unpredictable.”
Fischer said individuals in the presence of an AVI need to know how to exit or hide in buildings, how to contact authorities with correct addresses and report the most detailed identification of a perpetrator possible. As a last resort, they also should know when to turn on an attacker in self-defense.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said the attention needs to be focused on immediate responses to threats.
Simon encouraged MSU community members to take upon that responsibility and be aware of their surroundings.
“In a society where we all sort of live in our own little world, what this asks you to do is to look around you and think of how you could be of help to others,” Simon said at the meeting.
Fischer said all these are preventative measures, and MSU has never had an emergency-shooter situation on campus. Each year, MSU hosts different large mock emergency drills involving MSU police, administrators, actors playing victims and witnesses to prepare for what would happen in these types of situations. The most recent simulation was held in July 2012.
Beginning April 11, instructors from MSU police periodically will hold free informational sessions for MSU employees at the Nisbet Building.
The sessions will cover how to identify dangerous situations and respond in a timely manner, which is essential to preventing violence in the work place, she said.
Stefan Fletcher, president of the Council of Graduate Students, said although he’s more at ease knowing MSU is proactive in planning and preventing AVIs, he acknowledges there always is room to improve reaching out to students.
“It’s obviously very sad that we have to think about this kind of stuff we’re planning, but we’re very diligent,” Fletcher said.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
