In a country where mass shootings have killed over 100 people this year alone, the University of Rhode Island is prepared for the
Over the last several years, campus police have had extensive training in responding to active shooter situations, according to Major Michael Jagoda of the URI Police Department.
“One of the first things I did when I came here was look at our policies and procedures and also to get our officers trained up,” Jagoda said.
Several officers have been sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be trained as instructors on how to deal with these situations. They have since trained other URI police officers and officers from other police departments.
Within the last 18 months, they have also been offering semi-regular citizen response trainings for active shooters. They are open to anybody, and registration is available online. The next training is on Sept. 25.
One of the things that University P
The first part of the protocol is to “avoid.”
“We want you to avoid the situation,” says Jagoda. “Try to get away as quickly as possible.”
If possible, he recommends investigating the situation safely, and then either avoiding it or, if necessary, denying entry. “Deny,” is the second part of the protocol.
“You’re going to do everything you can to barricade your door,” he said, noting that there would be different techniques depending on whether the door opens in or out.
“These active shooters are looking for mass casualties,” Jagoda said. “ They’re not going to waste time trying to get into your room if they feel like they’re wasting time.”
The last part of the protocol, and a last resort, is “defend.”
“You tried to avoid the situation, you tried to deny them and now you’ve got to defend whatever it is,” said Jagoda. “This is a deadly physical force. So, if you throw a fire extinguisher at them, or bug spray, or Lysol or something, [it gives] you the opportunity to now avoid it again.”
In the event of an active shooter or any other emergency situation on campus, there is also a strategic communication plan in place to get information and safety instructions out to as many people as possible.
“For almost any incident…you bring your key people together,” said Dave Lavallee, the assistant director for communications and marketing in the department of external relations and communications.
“Your first responders go right to the incident, whatever it is: fire, theft, whatever,” Lavallee said. “ If it’s big enough, you put this incident command system into place.”
The incident command system at URI includes fire, police, emergency medical services, facilities personnel and communications personnel.
This system has been put to practice during severe weather incidents, according to Jagoda, which gives everyone involved practice for several kinds of “critical events,” including hazmat incidents, explosions, collapses, and shootings.
“I think that looking at risk and planning for those risks and trying to mitigate those risks is something that maybe we didn’t do in the past,” said Jagoda.
However, with mass shootings in the news over the last several years, this system was put into place.
Students aren’t immune to these fears, either.
Senior Alyjah Benton is one of those students. “In terms of like school shootings or police shooting the wrong people, because of what we see in the news, and like certain people are targeted for certain things, certain people might be perceived as a suspect even though they’re not,” Benton said.
Not every student is worried about this, though.
“We have a good police unit here,” said freshman Lucas Bache. “I’m not really worried about gun safety, especially in Rhode Island.”
Jagoda explained that he believes a general threat level to URI is evident and should be taken seriously.
“I think the threat is real,” Jagoda said. “I think the threat is very viable. I think it’s [a] shame on us if you don’t think that you’re gonna may be part of active shooter events.”
He cited activities such as concerts and other venues as “prime targets” for mass casualty events, then schools, then religious places and other areas.
“When we look at the University of Rhode Island, we have all of these things,” he said. “We have residence halls, we have three different places of worship, we have ROTC… government institutions, we have commercial things, we have a bank, we have [the] Memorial Union, we have the Emporium.”
Despite the risks, though, Jagoda says to not be afraid.
“I think what’s important is that you have confidence in your skillset in terms of responding appropriately to an active shooter or any kind of [emergency],” he said.