Police working at schools and colleges of all types are constantly trying to think of ways to spread public service announcements and safety messages in a way that engages their campus communities.
In this spirit, the University of Central Florida released a four minute video July 27 to explain the Run, Hide, Fight emergency response tactic endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The video is the result of a collaboration between the UCF Police Department, the Department of Security and Emergency Management and UCF Communications and Marketing.
UCF will show the video at new student and faculty orientations, and it will also be shown during departmental meetings, emergency training sessions, campus events and more, according to today.ucf.edu.
Without showing any scenes of violence that might scare viewers, the image of a man with a rifle early on is enough to get the community to take the video seriously. UCF Sgt. Adam Casebolt then walks viewers through each step of the Run, Hide, Fight response.
UCF.edu stated in a release that accompanied the video that it was created to “provide [viewers] with simple steps for survival and a reminder to always be vigilant about their personal safety. If you can escape a dangerous situation safely — run. If you cannot escape, find a place to hide and shelter-in-place. As a last resort if you cannot run or hide, fight for your life.”
Campus Safety has reported on other videos created by police departments to get the community’s attention, some of which have gone viral.
Campus Safety does not endorse the video or the Run, Hide, Fight tactic, but rather presents the video for other departments to reference and get ideas to use on their campus.
