By Erika Huber
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The recent college shootings around the country have sparked debates on gun control and safety at universities, causing many students to question whether they would know what to do in the event of an active shooter.
Although there have not been any shootings on Baltimore County college campuses recently, the schools and their public safety departments have many procedures in place to protect and educate students and staff.
Towson University, the University of Maryland – Baltimore County, Goucher College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Johns Hopkins and Loyola University all have training tools and educational videos on their websites.
While those tools are easily accessible, UMBC Deputy Police Chief Paul Dillon said it is difficult to get students informed and ready for emergency situations.
“The challenge is getting students to take time out of their busy days to go to a presentation or training session,” Dillon said. “It’s something that won’t end. You have to constantly offer it.”
Dillon said that while there has been no threat on the school, the UMBC Police Department and others involved in student safety meet frequently to discuss situations and people displaying irregular activity.
“Our effort toward behavior response is the key component,” Dillon said. “Identifying certain behaviors early on and interjecting before somebody turns to violence is very important.”
According to Dillon and the UMBC website, the students are instructed to run, hide or fight if an active shooter attacks on campus. If you cannot flee the area, then try to hide. If you cannot hide, then fight, Dillon said.
“If someone walks in and starts shooting in the classroom, you need to do whatever you can to live,” Dillon said. “If that means throwing a chair, rushing the shooter, jamming a pencil in his eye, whatever it is, this is it for you.”
Many shooters are not interested in negotiating, Dillon said, adding that their only intention is to kill.
While some Baltimore County universities will continue their procedures and training as they have been, Goucher College has updated plans for campus safety.
“As an institution, we are redesigning our emergency response plan, and we intend on training all senior staff, as well as have them participate in an active shooter exercises,” said David Heffer, the school’s director of public safety. “We’re also developing a class that can teach our community psychomotor responses to active violence, including active shooter events.”
Goucher plans to take measures to strengthen school policies and “harden” the campus to criminal activities and continue to develop its relationship with the Baltimore County Police Department, Heffer said.
Safety directors and police officers can only hope that their efforts and the tools made available to students will ensure preparedness in a potentially fatal situation.
Baltimore County police work with all area colleges on training, using mock situations in the field to best prepare for an active shooter. Preventative measures are also important to college administrations and have been increased.
“We now have emergency handbooks that hang in every office and are in every dorm room on campus,” said Susan Repko, the director of communications at Notre Dame of Maryland University., who ordered the handbooks for installment this past year.
Notre Dame has also recently held a staff assembly on active shooter situations, Repko said.
While educational resources are available, not all students have accessed them.
“I don’t think I would really know what to do if there was a shooter on campus,” said Towson University student Lindsey Wilhelm. “I’m sure the police are prepared, but I don’t think they’ve prepared me and if something were to happen I’d just be scared and confused.”
Wilhelm acknowledges that she, along with other students, were briefed on safety procedures during first-year student orientation, but she has not been actively provided with safety information since.
“I know they have safety tips online, but I think a lot of us graze over them or never think to look,” Wilhelm said. “Towson is a big school so it’s probably really hard to get every single person prepared for any situation at any time, but I think having a day where professors briefly go over safety procedures with the class could be helpful.”
UMBC Senior Julia Knapo feels that she would know what to do if there were ever an active shooter on campus but is not aware of any of the measures taken by UMBC to educate students.
“I would know to use my instincts,” Knapo said. “I’d run, hide, play dead, do whatever I had to to protect myself, and I trust the school to do what’s best.”
Nearly all Baltimore County college campuses have emergency blue light telephones. According to the Towson University website, the school has 80 blue light stations on campus that students can access quickly.
Towson also uses internal and external speakers, message boards, text message alerts and computer screens to mass-communicate with the students and faculty for various emergencies.
“We make every effort to get the information out to people,” said Towson Deputy Police Chief Joseph Herring. “We have a very low crime rate on campus because of the partnership with the students and staff. The training sessions, seminars and workshops we put on are well-attended.”