Page 10 - FreePress201314

-, "

NEWS

as much information ican male with a square fas:e and light facial hair who
as possible so that the had, according to a number of student reports, been
dispatcher can understand - suspiciously following them and even showing a knife
the situation and know and demanding money on Pennsylvania Avenue near
the location of what is the ol~ Mustangs Pizza. Although Campus Safety and
happening. the Westminster Police Departmenr searched for the
man and investigated this incident, he is still at large '
3) Conceal yourself: and students should be aware.
if you are unable to get
out of the situation, hide Lastly, Webster made clear that should a student
and remain completely ever feel unsafe in any situation on or around campus
silent and out of sight of he or she should contact Campus Safety immediately.
the shooter(s). Officers are also available to transport students around
should they feel threatened or unsafe.
4) Act now: do not
panic, hesitate or become

immobile. Act immedi- Three words
ately. That is, barricade

doors, hide yourself, pro- should be in
tect those around you and
Director of Campus Safety Mike Webster gives stu do whatever is necessary
what to do in emergency situations.
Ojwang ,everyone's brain in-assoon as you recognize _
Image by Melanie
what is happening.

_ 5) Prevent entry: do

BEN SHOUDY your best to keep any a situation such as
Commentary Editor ... attackers out of the room or area that you are in, so as
to protect yourself and those around you. Tables, chairs this: run, hide

Both as a response to recent crimes near, campus and and even binders can be used to keep the door shut a~d and fight.

due to plans made earlier in the school year, the De- prevent others from getting in. Vice President and Dean Beth Gerl, along with
:Vebster, concluded the presentation by stating how
partment of Campus Safety and the McDaniel College 6) Exert effort: As a last case scenario, everyone unportant it is to be registered with the Campus Alert
system. As McDaniel students have seen in the past few
administration sponsored an event on Tuesday, Oct. 22 should be prepared to fight an attacker should he or weeks, this system goes out in the event of an emergen-
c! and i~is imperative to not only get these notification
titled ''Active Shooter 411," a program designed to edu- she be unable to do any of the previous steps. Though via e~ail but through cell phones as well. Students can
db ~s through the McDaniel Portal system or by con-
cate students about safety and response to a situation in difficult, it is essential. . taCtlng Campus Safety for help.

which someone armed with a weapon were present and Webster said that because ESCAPE is long and When asked about how students should feel con-
tacting Campus Safety if they have been drinking,
dangerous on campus. The program included a video probably difficult to remember in a stressful situation, Webster said that safety is the number one concern.
Regardless of whether someone has been consuming
outlining the safety techniques and precautions that ev- three words should be in everyone's brain in a situation alcohol, if a student is not safe they should contact
Campus Safety.
eryone must follow in the event of such a situation, and such as this: run, hide and fight. He also noted that

it was then followed up by a summary by Mike Webster, when speaking to 911 or Campus Safety on the phone

head of Campus Safety, as well as questions from the it is extremely important to stay on the line until told to
audience. hang up so that the person on the line can get enough

The video presented the acronym "ESCAPE," information. After hanging up, phones should be
completely silent. Even vibrate mode can be heard by a
standing for the essential steps in responding to an

active shooter on campus. These steps are: shooter and should the dispatcher call back, the phone -

1) Evacuate: get yourself out of any harm and into should be on silent so that no one hears it.

a safe location. He described in detail the most recent security

2) Summon help: Once you are safe, contact police threat from this past weekend. Last Saturday night,

and/ ~r Campus Safety via telephone. Be sure to give . students were notified of a 6~foot tall African-Amer-

I_