Campus assesses safety after March incident

Since the alleged gun sighting on campus on March 14, parents have called the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Information Center concerned about security and unsure of what was happening on campus. Though there was not an active shooting situation, parents wanted to be sure that their students were safe.

After the alleged sighting, extra police presence patrolled campus coming from the community and nearby Madison to ensure the safety of students and staff. One month after the gun sighting situation, interim police chief Jason Williams said they are back to regular police monitoring on campus. That includes one officer on patrol at any given time, as there is no foreseen threat.

Although UW-Platteville has returned to normal operations in terms of police presence, both university police and individual departments have been looking to add more security. One of the largest security initiatives that campus has been addressing the last few years involves access control. Access control refers to the Passport ID scanners students use to enter the residence halls which can prevent people who do not live or work in that particular hall from entering.

Cassidy Babcock, a sophomore criminal justice major living on campus, said the residence halls are well-secured due to the access control scanners.

Williams said these scanners are slowly being added to academic buildings to monitor access. The scanners that are in position are not activated until buildings are locked.

Security cameras are a tool that Williams said students and parents have asked about.

Babcock said that more cameras on campus would help students feel safer in addition to helping police with investigations. She also said that outdoor cameras would be especially beneficial in this manner.

Williams says there are 16 cameras on campus, two of which are located near Campus Police and in all residence hall elevators.

“More security cameras or lights outside could help deter or prevent assaults and robberies,” Babcock said.

Since each camera costs about $6,000, it is difficult for the university to afford more. Williams, along with William Hoyer, the university Grant Specialist, have been working to find and fill out potential grants to aid in funding more security cameras. Unfortunately, not many have been found.

“More cameras would be helpful after events are reported [for identifying suspects],” Williams said. He also said that having someone monitoring the cameras would not be in the budget right now. Despite the lack of overall university funding in regards to campus security, Williams said some departments are taking advantage of individual departmental funding in order to protect important parts of their programs.

In preparation for potential threats, University Police and other parts of campus take part in mock situations. Quick response of university personnel is largely related to the training received by all individuals involved. In 2012, Williams says there was a mock active shooter scenario, where University Police worked closely with the city police and Southwest Health. Resident Assistants also receive training on specific scenarios such as alleged weapon sightings and active shootings each semester. The Emergency Preparation Team, a group of professionals in varying departments, also take part in such scenarios. All participants volunteer their time to support awareness and safety across campus.

Director of University Information and Communications and Public Information Officer, Paul Erickson said he was proud of how campus and the community worked to communicate the situation to campus and the public after the alleged gun sighting.

Through a combination of campus email, text alerts, the PA system, and posting on the university website, Erickson said they were able to reach as many people as possible.

“It’s not like elementary school where you ring one bell and everyone knows [about an emergency],” Erickson said. He also talked about the importance of keeping students informed about campus safety and said that UW-Platteville was the first school in the UW System to implement text alerts as an opt-out system versus as opt-in system. Meaning, students are more likely to receive text alerts from the university because they are automatically signed up for the alert system

Erickson said the university is implementing a system where parents, spouses and emergency contacts will also be able to receive rave alerts.

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