Anna Bryson | The Crow’s Nest
By Savannah Carr
Nobody expects an armed intruder to come to their school. However, one way to eliminate some of the fear is to be prepared. The University Police Department has some tips on how to handle an active intruder.
The UPD has multiple security measures in place to protect students from — and hopefully prevent — an incident with security cameras, the USF Safe app, officers and emergency phones around campus.
“A big aspect for us is the use of security cameras to manage the incident,” UPD Police Chief David Hendry said. “We also have a fully operational emergency operations center, which allows us to view cameras, special plans and floor plans.”
However, Hendry said the safety of the campus also depends on every individual on campus.
“You need to have the USF Safe ap, because it has procedures on what to do. You need to have emergency notifications through USF Safe and USF Alert,” he said.
“If you see someone that is suspicious, report them. It allows us to respond and investigate.”
If you believe a person you encounter on campus or on social media is a threat to the campus, UPD wants you to notify them.
“Reporting the person allows us to investigate and, more often than not, get them help,” Hendry said.
Throughout the year, UPD hosts trainings called CRASE, which stands for Citizens Response to Active Shooter Events, for all faculty and students.
The training teaches students how to protect themselves against a “mass harmer.” However, if you can’t make it to the training, or if you prefer to do it alone, the UPD website has a 45-minute training video along with various documents to help you.
“We prescribe to the ‘run, hide, fight’ curriculum. So run if you can, hide if need be, and the last resort would be to defend yourself,” Emergency Management Coordinator James Weed said.
Following this curriculum, the best thing you can do in the event of a “mass harmer” is run. You should do whatever you can to safely get away from the situation. If you cannot safely get away, your next move should be to hide in place.
Worst case scenario, you fight the intruder, although UPD does not recommend taking that risk.
“Absolutely the last resort would be to defend yourself somehow, which we do not recommend, but we do recommend,” Weed said.
For more information, including documents and training videos on how to prepare and what to do, go to the UPD website under the “armed intrude”r section at https://www.usfsp.edu/university-police-department/armed-intruder/.
