With details of a shooting at Seattle Pacific University still coming in, the question at Shoreline Community College is, “How prepared is this campus to deal with such a tragedy?”
Interim President Daryl Campbell said the college does have emergency-response plans in place and continues to expand and refine those procedures.
“First, let me offer condolences to victims and all those impacted by this afternoon’s events in Seattle,” said Campbell, just hours after reports of the June 5, 2014 event.
“Shoreline has done significant planning and training around emergency management and response and we are continuing to do more,” Campbell said. “A year ago, we adopted a comprehensive emergency management response plan. We implemented training for employees and, in fact, are in the middle of a training series that will extend through the summer and just had a training session for supervisors this past Friday.
“Our safety and security information and plans are online at www.shoreline.edu/safetyandsecurity. Although we are providing training, I urge everyone in campus community – students, faculty and staff – to familiarize themselves with the information.”
Leading that planning and training effort is Director of Safety and Security Robin Blacksmith. Blacksmith has years of experience as a community policing officer in nearby Edmonds and has also served as a corporate safety and security director for a major national banking firm.
In the past year, Blacksmith has implemented the Emergency Management Response Plan, worked with local law enforcement to host emergency-situation training on campus, bolstered crime reporting procedures, established and posted campus evacuation routes and works closely with a behavior monitoring and intervention team on campus.
The college also participates in a recently formed collaborative safety group of major agencies in the city of Shoreline to share information during emergencies.
To notify students and employees should an emergency arise, the college uses a web-based program that can send e-mail, voicemail and text notifications as well as post notices on the college website. The college is looking at additional ways to notify those both on- and off-campus in emergency situations.
“The event in Seattle is tragic,” Campbell said. “Shoreline has plans and training in place, but we are also continuing to work toward improving our ability to respond.”
I was at SPU that day at my husband’s retirement party. We had just left when my husband and all of SPU received text messages on their phones “Lockdown, not a drill!!! Immediate danger. If caught outside, run away from campus.” Over and over.
I worked at SPU for 6 years. Right after the Virginia Tech massacre we started having serious drills every month. Doors could be locked from Safety/Security office. Loud speakers installed. Every building had several people assigned to manage lockdowns with safety gear and bullhorns.
Even with all the drills. A man was able to just walk in to a building and shoot people.
I have an idea that I hope all schools adopt; locking doors. When class is in session, classroom doors remain locked.
Building should have door monitors with pepper spray, cameras and a metal detector alarm.
These copycat killers are on the increase. We don’t see them coming because they are Caucasian, privileged, and don’t seem like dangerous thugs or gang members.
They are the neighbor’s shy kid. The nice guy who wouldn’t do such a destructive thing. But this trend is way too popular.
Only one kid died at SPU. To the faculty, students and staff, that was a million too many. The whole community is devastated with grief and sadness.
Please protect Shoreline CC. I’m a student there in worker retraining.
Lock the doors. Have lockdown drills every quarter.
SPU never thought it could happen. It did. Things are forever changed now.
Thank you,