Show-Me State to Show Students, Faculty How to Improve Campus Safety

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Colleges statewide are ramping up security procedures to better prepare students, faculty and staff to handle an emergency situation in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings in April.

Missouri schools are conducting training simulations and safety orientations for new students and campus security officers in order to raise awareness of potential risks and mitigate safety threats.

Several schools, including Missouri Baptist University and University of Missouri-St. Louis , have incorporated safety training and crisis management into orientation programs for new staff and faculty.

At Missouri Baptist, new resident assistants participate in an active shooter exercise that includes local police officers, students and campus safety officers, all of whom act out a shooter/hostage scenario to train staff how to handle a live shooter.

Orientation programs for new faculty and teaching assistants at UMSL now include discussions about how to identify and deal with troubled students, in addition to how to navigate the campus. The university also plans to hold similar orientations for resident assistants.

All safety officers at UMSL were armed with Tasers and patrol rifles this summer — an option under consideration by other state schools, according to reports.

Schools police departments are working to coordinate emergency response protocols with local law enforcement. Safety officers at several colleges have started meeting regularly with municipal police departments to develop a live shooter policy.

Many schools are considering emergency notification systems, including campuswide text message programs, radio systems, and emergency call centers with backup Web sites.

Students at Webster University will be actively involved with campus security starting this school year. Students will staff residence hall security desks all night, seven days a week.

State universities are awaiting further safety recommendations from a campus security task force assembled by Gov. Matt Blunt in April after the Virginia Tech incident.