In the wake of the worst shooting spree in US history at Virginia Tech the Independent spoke with NEIU administration and Chicago Police officials about the state of emergency readiness at Northeastern.
The university has been actively working on an Emergency Management Plan [EMP] for the last year and a half. In Sept. 2005 Public Safety Director Jim Lyon told the Independent that the EMP had been “in draft form” since 2003.
Communication and manpower are the biggest obstacles in an emergency on campus according to both Lyon and Safety Coordinator Rick Matus, “One of the things we struggle with is communication,” said Lyon.
The EMP is currently nearing completion and, according to VP of Finance and Administration Mark Wilcockson and Public Relations Director Erica Krehbiel who are both in a working group of administrators completing the EMP.
“A lot of this stuff is implemented already,” said Wilcockson, who explained that many policies and procedures on safety and emergency response included in the EMP were originated and implemented by individual departments across the university. Those procedures were then communicated and reviewed by the working group and included in the EMP.
On how the Campus Police would alert the campus to an emergency in which the situation was more complex than a simple evacuation, in which fire alarms can be used, Lyon said, “[we] use our officers [Northeastern Police] and some Facilities Management staff. This is what we struggle with, how do we communicate?”
Generally on any shift there are only two officers, one dispatcher and one sergeant on duty according to Lyon and other NEIU Police sources. On weekdays there is the addition of one lieutenant and the director, a second lieutenant works other shifts as well.
Lyon said that the university has looked at several options for improving communication in emergency situations. He said methods such as blast e-mails, phone messages and even a public address system [PA] linked across the whole university. The PA was rejected “that ended up being very expensive,” said Lyon.
Lyon said that in a major emergency there are two phases. Phase one is to deal with the immediate emergency response and that phase two is to deal with the aftermath. Lyon was also quick to point out that several of his officers have attended the police “Active Shooter” course, created after the school shootings at Columbine High School, one session just last month at the University of Illinois at Chicago and one last year with the Lincolnwood Police Department.
Rick Matus said that in crisis situations the Incident Command system would be put in to place where a central command center would operate and all information would flow to and from that command center.
Matus also said that outside agencies would be used when appropriate. “We’re going to work with outside resources where we’re not experts in the field, CFD [Chicago Fire Dept.] and Chicago Police are coming, we’re going to work with them.”
The Northeastern Police regularly work with the Chicago Police Dept. [CPD] in the 17th District, responding with them to incidents near campus. After the incident at Virginia Tech Lyon said that he met with other university police chiefs at the University of Illinois at Chicago and that he also met with CPD Chief Phil Cline about the tragedy.
CPD Capt. Thomas Libert of the 17th Dist. said that orders were given to increase presence at NEIU, he said that he was not sure if that came from his commander or from higher ups in CPD.
CPD 17th Dist. officers held roll calls in parking lots of NEIU for several days after the incident. “We took it upon ourselves because people may be a little fearful. We may show ourselves and reassure students that we are here and aware of their possible fears,” said Libert.
CPD Sergeant Sara Segrin, also an English major at NEIU, said that she knows many off duty police who attend Northeastern. Many attend because a four year degree is needed to advance beyond sergeant in CPD. Segrin said that they are kind of an extra “undercover police force” that would help respond to any catastrophic emergency. She said that off duty CPD officers carry their service weapon with them at all times and, “they are never really off duty.”
Liebert said that, though there have been copycat incidents in other states, there have not been any in Chicago.
Wilcockson said that there were two previous attempts to complete the EMP, one focused on procedures and one on interdepartmental coordination, “This is both.”
Wilcockson also said that the delay was exacerbated by the fact that there have been three Public Safety Chiefs since 2003 (one of whom, Lt. Jack Baker, was only an acting chief).
Matus said the EMP would continue to develop once it is adopted and training begins. Matus said, “We need to start planning for likely scenarios, this [general emergency planning] is such a big picture thing you have to narrow down and prioritize.”