HSU, CR examine campus emergency preparedness
Times-Standard 4/17/07
The nightmare that unfolded Monday morning at Virginia Tech could happen here -- or at virtually any college in the country. There's no way to fully prepare for it, local experts say, and the open nature of universities makes responding to such a scenario particularly difficult.
A similar emergency at Humboldt State University or at the College of the Redwoods would draw on the resources of the various local law enforcement agencies that have long emphasized working together.
”I don't know of a university that could handle this kind of incident by themselves,” said HSU Police Chief Tom Dewey.
Dewey teaches a course at CR's Police Academy on responding to an “active shooter.” But even with the significant training from the academy, Dewey said each scenario is different. To stay sharp, the university routinely trains with both the Arcata Police Department and the Eureka Police Department.
Unlike many elementary, middle and high schools, which practice lockdown drills to prepare for different emergencies, colleges are not so easily controlled. In fact, it would be virtually impossible for law enforcement to lock down a host of classrooms scattered across a campus.
Some students at HSU seem to understand this. Noelle Melchizedek said she doesn't think the university is any better or less prepared than any other. If a shooter went on a rampage at the school, “I think everyone would do what's right at the time to the best of their abilities,” she said.
It appeared that news of the Virginia Tech shooting was spreading slowly around campus Monday. Those that knew were shocked to hear that the initial early morning shooting had ballooned into a mass killing, said Lumberjack Forum Editor John Osborn. Some said it could happen at HSU, he said.
”You really won't know if you're prepared until it happens,” Osborn said.
CR has an emergency preparedness plan, but it doesn't drill as often as HSU -- whose focus is generally on natural disasters. A protocol developed in 2001 may need to be refreshed, said college spokesman Paul DeMark.
With as many as 4,000 students on the campus at a time, and 140 living in dorms there, the potential for a terrible disaster is evident. The Virginia Tech tragedy may be a wakeup call of sorts.
”Something like this certainly inspires us to refer to this plan and update it,” DeMark said.
Even with a plan, the way the school would inform its students of an unfolding threat and the tactics law enforcement would use to subdue it would have to be flexible. All police can do is train for as many situations as possible, said Sgt. Bryan Quenell with the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Team.
”You can train for it, but every situation is different,” Quenell said. “It's a fluid environment and everything can change at a moment's notice.”
Given the difficult-to-contain environment on college campuses, the best way to handle someone bent on violence is to thwart their plans.
Dewey said that the prevention of tragedy rarely makes news. But courageous people who have seen signs of plots to kill have obstructed those plans, Dewey said.
”The best way to stop an active shooter is to stop it before it starts,” Dewey said.