So one question we should ask is, “How will our campus law enforcement staff be able to simultaneously issue mass warnings combined with their field response mission?” If they can’t, then we may have a problem.
Police officials perform their primary missions: law enforcement and criminal apprehension, crime scene security, and perimeter control. With that mission in mind, is the mass notification role and responsibility appropriate to be housed within a law enforcement agency?
Each campus must decide, especially where a full-time emergency manager is employed and able to handle this mission. Considerations every campus should assess:
- Mass notification in some law enforcement agencies may be considered a secondary mission (it no longer can be).
- Mass notification systems should be integrated, interoperable, allowing simultaneous deployment, and not require staff to be physically present with the hardware (on campus). Think IPAWS and Common Alerting Protocol.
Campus police dispatchers in emergencies also have a primary mission – to engage emergency command, coordination and response to the field personnel by radio. They manage the 9-1-1 phone systems and address numerous (hundreds to thousands of incoming call from parents, students and personnel in response to the emergency). Many police agencies only employ one or two dispatchers. Can they adequately address mass warning?
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- If campuses are relying on police dispatcher(s) to manage the mass warning systems in the middle of a major crisis, there could be significant delays due to operational stress. Radio management and officer safety are critical issues in managing a fluid field emergency, and dispatchers know this. Dispatchers may need to manage multiple radio channels with limited resources. Mass warnings may not become a priority when one is chained to a radio or telephone console.
- How will your campus manage the mass warning system priority when the dispatch center is at full tilt?
13 Recommendations:
- If possible, campuses should assess reliance on their law enforcement and dispatch staff as the primary authority for issuing mass warnings; their primary mission (life safety response) may conflict with the ability to have resources immediately available to issue mass warnings.
- Some agencies do not have pre-established policy and procedures in place. This may compound the problem of supporting timely response.
- The decisions to issue mass warnings should be pre-approved (whenever possible). The personnel assigned to issue mass warnings should know all of the situations when a mass warning is appropriate and should have vetted this process long before the time to make a decision arrives. There is enough stress associated with mass warnings. The decisions associated in the activation and delivery should be thought out well in advance.
- The campus emergency management office should be considered as the primary issuing authority for mass warnings (if possible). The staff can be easily trained, in place and have the ability to respond immediately according to HEOA guidelines, in a parallel track simultaneously with public safety (9-1-1) field forces.
- Have a pre-determined list of the events, incidents and situations that could trigger a mass warning on your campus. Where there is clear consensus of the panel reviewing this list, give these situations the green light. Where there is question or the need for confirmation, then list these situations as possible but needing confirmation.
- Where there is no question, rule out situations where issuing a mass warning is highly unlikely. Rely on field guidance and the facts of the incident for confirmation and other discretionary actions.
- Establish clear policy and procedures that meet all issues and requirements under the HEOA and Clery Act.
- Define and delegate authority to the personnel authorized to issue mass warnings. Clearly outline your process (time is stress).
- Maintain flexibility. What is the worst-case scenario? If you can’t get approval, can your m
ass notification personnel still issue a warning based on their good judgment/discretion and the nature of event? - Have at least three people designated on call for issuing mass warnings. They should be issued computers, trained and ready to issue notices when advised.
- Pre-script the event messages so they can meet a wide variety of situations, saving valuable time.
- Test and train, exercise various scenarios on at least a quarterly basis. Be Ready. Confidence in knowing how the system works, your ability to manage and correct possible problems, and understanding the various nuances of your mass warning system will alleviate some of the stress associated with issuing mass warnings.
- You don’t want to be issuing mass warnings for the first time. Co so at your own peril. You should be well rehearsed in this process when that moment arrives.
Ask Some Basic Questions
- What do we know?
- Are people in danger? If yes, send the alert.
- Is the threat active? If yes, send the alert. If no, send an advisory.
- Are many people at risk? If yes, send the alert. You’ll need to decide what “many people” means (more than two?).
- Is the scene secure? If not, send the alert.
- Is there a need to preserve the crime scene? If yes, send an advisory telling the campus community to stay away (police emergency).
- Will an ENS message impede law enforcement or other allied agencies? If not, send the alert.
Related Articles:
- Dept. of Ed: Virginia Tech Violated Clery Act
- Virginia Tech 1 Year Later: How Campuses Have Responded
- Your Mass Notification Cheat Sheet
- UT Austin: Proof Positive That Training, Relationships and Technology Pay Off
- CMAS: The End of SMS Text Alerting as We Know It?
- Clery Compliance Guidance
- Lawmakers Propose Expansion of Clery Act
- Managing Crises Means Managing Victims
- It’s Good to No Longer Be the ‘Problem Child’ on Campus
