Safety a high priority at area universities

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Universities are like small cities, and just like cities, they have to prepare for any emergency that may threaten the safety of students and staff members.

Officers from both Mississippi State University and Mississippi University for Women assure that university campuses all around the country are some of the safest places you can be.

They say communication is the key to keeping it that way.

Campus Police had to put their training to the test four years ago on the Mississippi State campus and just this past week at MUW.

“We do have a crisis action team, so when we do have major incidents that arise, we plan to make sure that we address those situations, we have training scenarios, things like that, so that we’re prepared to best handle it,” said MUW Police Chief Randy Vibrock.

Mississippi State University, Police Chief Vance Rice says communication is vital to ensuring the safety of students and staff members in a crisis situation.

“It is extremely important to get students, faculty, and staff the information that they need to keep themselves safe as soon as possible,” said Rice.

One way of getting this information out is through text alert systems like MSU’s Maroon Alert or MUW’s W-Alert.

“It’s important for our students and our university community to make sure they are registered for emergency notifications. If something is sent out, it’s important for everyone to try to remain calm and to think clearly and to just take steps to protect themselves first,” said MSU’s Emergency Manager Brent Crocker.

Rice says the initial alert is the most important.

“The initial information is likely the best information that’s keeping the person safe. So, the additional updates and more information is just that… It doesn’t really have anything to do with their safety, it’s just they’re wanting to know what’s going on and we’ve got a lot of other things to do, you know, at that moment,” said Rice.

But in this day of social media, people expect a constant stream of updates.

Emergency Management officials say that’s simply not the reality.

“It’s important for people to understand that in an emergency, you’re not going to have as much information as you would like, and you’re always going to want to know more than what you’re being told. We have to be very careful about information that we share. If we share information that’s incorrect, it could not only lead people to the wrong conclusions but it could also be dangerous,” said Crocker.

At the end of the day, officers are only worried about one thing.

“As the university police department our primary concern is the safety of the individuals that are on campus, faculty, staff, students, and as a police department we are going to respond to the scene and try to resolve the situation as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Vibrock.

Emergency management officials on both campuses want to emphasize the importance of signing up for crisis alert messages as well as just being aware of your surroundings at all times.