Collegiate Times

The University of Northern Florida held a workshop for grade school and higher education administrators and police forces on March 11 titled "Mass Shooting at Virginia Tech: Lessons Learned and Panel Recommendations."

The workshop featured representatives from the Virginia Tech Review Panel and TriData, a public safety consulting firm, who worked together to dissect the events of April 16 and make conclusions about them.

The presentation covered the ways in which Tech emergency teams responded to the events of April 16 and highlighted measures that other schools could take should a similar situation occur on their campuses. The workshop also covered how to identify and assess members of the college community who could be considered "red flags" and could denote a potential threat to the safety of their fellow students.

Bob Jacobs, director of the Institute of Police Technology and Management, a direct support organization with UNF that trains police officers, said that a great deal of law enforcement representatives from all over the state of Florida were present at the workshop. The workshop helped police officers to see exactly how Tech police responded to the emergency calls and showed which tactics worked efficiently and which could have been improved.

Jacobs attended a similar workshop by the National Institute of Justice in San Francisco, which also featured a presentation made by TriData. He said he thought it was important for the police forces at Florida schools to hear firsthand examples the presentation had to offer in order to get a better understanding of why crisis situations occur and how to handle them.

Mark Foxworth, the UNF chief of police, was also in attendance at the workshop and was impressed with the thoroughness of the presentation.

"The workshop was great for everybody; it dispelled the myths from the media and showed how the police responded quickly to the situation," Foxworth said.

Foxworth also said the workshop gave him a better understanding of who should be responsible for different areas of protection should an incident occur on the UNF campus.

Hollis Stambaugh, deputy director of Panel staff and director of the Center for Public Protection with TriData, delivered much of the report on the events of April 16 and the aftermath during the workshop. She mentioned many examples of precautionary measures universities across the nation are taking, most of which reflect measures already taken at Tech.

Stambaugh said many schools have made use of alert notifications through text messages, e-mail, instant messages and the like. Several have implemented an outdoor siren system to alert people to check their e-mail, cell phones or emergency information centers for alert messages. Locks on doors and camera systems have been installed in some schools to heighten security in classrooms and other academic buildings.

Stambaugh also noted that the government has begun taking steps toward a safer future for schools. The federal government is opening the door for new rules enforcing the sharing of educational records from high schools to colleges. This aims to allow universities to be aware of any criminal records or medical conditions that could be important in dealing with troubled students.

The state government is taking a different approach to looking at troubled individuals by changing conditions under which someone can be admitted for psychiatric problems. The new laws will require that practitioners receive broader information on the patient in question, including reports from other doctors who have worked with the patient. This will give practitioners a better basis for diagnosis rather than depending on the patient's self reports and observation sessions, which can overlook symptoms of mental illnesses.

These law changes will take away some of the flexibility of privacy rights but will also help school systems to recognize "red flags" within individual students, potentially making schools safer for students and administrators alike.

"Out of the horror that occurred and the heartache that endures, some good has come from it in that universities are really preparing themselves should an emergency situation occur on their campus," Stambaugh said.