2008 Woodie Awards
Since the shootings last spring at Virginia Tech, ISU has implemented various safety techniques, such as the text-message system, in case something like last Thursday's shooting at Northern Illinois happens here.
"We've purchased additional equipment since Virginia Tech," said Bill Mercier, chief of police and director of Public Safety.
In addition to new equipment, public safety has been training to better handle an active shooter, Mercier said.
An active shooter is "a person who appears to be actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area," according to the Public Safety Web site.
Jason Winkle, assistant professor of physical education, has been assisting public safety in its training. Winkle has trained military personnel as well as law enforcement on how to react in high-stress situations, according to the Indiana State University magazine.
ISU has implemented a text-messaging alert system. There is a link on the Web site to sign up.
"The e2Campus system is an emergency notification system which Indiana State University is utilizing to send text messages to the cell phones of students, faculty, staff and other interested individuals," according to the Public Safety Web site.
The text messages only go out to the people signed up for them, and they are only used for campus crime alerts, weather-related closings and amber alerts, according to the Public Safety Web site.
The university also has a siren system in place. It is used for all hazards, including an active shooter, a tornado or even a chemical spill, Mercier said.
For students, faculty and staff logged into the Novell system, a pop up message will appear in the event of a dangerous situation on campus.
If people have questions about situations on campus, they can dial 7777 (from any campus phone) and a recorded message will tell them what is happening, Mercier said.
Public Safety will send out global e-mail messages, as well as post messages on the ISU portal, in the event of a crisis on campus, he said.
In the event of an active shooter on campus, Mercier said ISU would be in contact with the local media to get the word out.
"There really shouldn't be just one way to get the word out about a dangerous situation," Mercier said. "The ideal situation is to be as redundant as possible, to get the word out to as many people in as many ways as possible."
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