OREM, Utah—Though many Utah Valley State College students may not be directly affected by school shootings, university police are taking precautions to safeguard the campus.

The police have added to their list of emergency procedures information about how to handle an active shooter incident.

The first thing police say to do if you’re in a building where shots are being fired is exit the building quickly and orderly. Tell others you see to leave as well.

Then call the police. If you call from a cell phone, tell the dispatcher your name, location, the number and description of shooters, and the number of people who may be affected. You can also reach them by dialing 5555 from any campus phone.

If you can’t make it to a building exit, police say, find the nearest room or office and lock yourself in. If someone knocks and you don’t know who it is, don’t answer.

Some students aren’t so sure these precautions will help.

Kellie Hegerhorst said she doesn’t think the new procedure would stop someone from shooting at the school.

“People will always get around things,” she said. But, she conceded, much can be done to improve safety for students.

Hegerhorst said e-mail and text messaging could be used to alert students of danger and help protect them.

A survey developed by UVSC Web Development Services found the majority of students feel text messages would be the most effective way to alert the campus community of danger.

Texting is the most widely supported
method for warning students














Photo by Amanda Gravett

In case of an emergency or shooting, almost 28 percent of students said they want to be alerted by text. Campus TV announcements won the second highest approval, with almost 11 percent saying they favored the method.

Laurel Canfield said she thinks the best way to ensure the safety of students is to maintain a prepared police force.

“Make sure police on campus are trained well,” she said.

After the Virginia Tech shootings, many schools have taken precautions to protect their schools from similar tragedies.



A victim of the Virginia Tech
shootings is carried out of a campus
building by law enforcement.














Alan Kim, The Roanoke Times AP Photo

Northern Illinois University took many precautions before the shooting on Feb. 14. But they proved to be insufficient as a man dressed in black entered Cole Hall and opened fire.

In a letter to students following the incident, President John G. Peters of NIU said more security measures will be taken.

“You will see an increased number of uniformed officers in and around campus next week,” he said.

According to the UVSC police statistics, there were two arrests made for illegal possession of weapons in 2006.

Nationally, there were more than 200,000 arrests made for possession of weapons, according to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

National statistics are published at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/index.html.

Details on the new school emergency policy can be found on the UVSC police Web site at http://www.uvsc.edu/police/.

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