WORKPLACE
VIOLENCE OR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR ON CAMPUS
o IN AN EMERGENCY DIAL EXT. 9-911
o
Campus Police are located in
o
Everyone is asked to assist in making the campus a
safe place by being alert to suspicious situations and reporting them promptly.
ü
Promptly notify Campus Police at 740-4545 or 771-5185
as soon as possible and report the incident, including the following
information:
o
Nature of the incident
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Location of the incident
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Description of person(s) involved
o
Description of property involved
ü If you observe a criminal act, or whenever you
observe a suspicious person on campus, immediately notify Campus Police and
report the incident
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Assist the officers when they arrive by supplying
them with all additional information and ask others to cooperate
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Should gunfire or discharged explosives hazard the
campus, you should take cover immediately using all available concealment.
After the disturbance, seek emergency first aid if necessary.
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What to do if taken hostage:
o Be patient. Time is on your side. Avoid drastic
action.
o
The initial 45 minutes are the most dangerous. Follow
instructions, be alert and stay alive. The captor is emotionally unbalanced. Do
not make mistakes, which could hazard your well-being.
o
Do not speak unless spoken to; and then only when
necessary. Do not talk down to the captor who may be in an agitated state.
Avoid appearing hostile. Maintain eye contact with the captor at all times if
possible, but do not stare. Treat the captor like royalty.
o
Try to rest. Avoid speculations. Comply with
instructions as best you can. Avoid arguments. Expect the unexpected.
o
Be observant. You may be released or be able to
escape. The personal safety of others may depend on your memory.
o
Be prepared to answer the police on the phone. Be
patient. Wait. Attempt to establish rapport with the captor. If medication,
first aid, or restroom privileges are needed by anyone - say so. The captor, in
all probability, does not want to harm persons held by him or her. Such direct
action further implicates the captor in additional offenses.
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ARMED ASSAULT
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In the event that one or more gunman comes
on campus with intent to harm university member (s) for any reason;
o A Single gunman looking
for a particular target is usually very agitated and unstable. They will harm others that get in their way
and may be suicidal. Any witnesses
should call 911 as soon as they are aware of the threat and should only attempt
to keep the actor in view so that they can report his/her position. If the
witness knows how to call ahead of the gunman, they should call in a warning to
the building that they are heading towards first, if not, the police department
can help with that as they talk with the witness.
o
If a building gets a warning call, they
should leave the building if they can, if not, they should simply lock the
doors and remain out of sight. Someone
will come and give the all clear when the situation is over
o
Witnesses should remain calm and take notice
of the actors dress and appearance, the kind of weapon that they are carrying,
etc. This is information that can help
save lives if the police can get it quickly enough. The responding officer must be able to
quickly acquire the actor’s location and accurately identify him in order to
protect the rest of the campus
o
Officers should attempt to protect the
intended target, but they must remember that there are many potential targets
in the area that also depend on them for safety.
They
must not engage in risky behavior, which might eliminate them from
protecting everyone else, especially in the early stage before backup can
arrive
o
Managing the target and other potential
targets is just as important as confronting the gunman at times. Extending your opportunity to engage the
gunman is the key to successfully getting everyone out of the situation
alive. Time is your ally. The more extended the incident, the more time
that responders will have to successfully end the situation peacefully and
safely.
ü
Multiple gunmen
on campus usually indicate an assault on non-specified targets. It may mean Administrators or anyone that may
be in charge. It may mean corps members
or any student. Or as in Columbine, it
could be a wide range of “specific targets” (Jocks, cool kids, certain members
of certain groups, etc), that have offended the gunmen in the past.
o Officers should once again, approach this
situation quietly and unseen if possible.
Warning should go out and, the campus should be secured by locking all
the doors and trying to evacuate the effected building. The entrance and exits should be secured if
possible, to shut off easy access by the intruders
o
Officers should try to get as much info on
the group as possible and Galveston SWAT should be notified of the
situation. While the SWAT team is
assembling, other officers will be arriving on the scene. The initial officer needs to direct their
approach so that they are not fired upon and so that the gunmen are not alerted
to their arrival
o
Any of these threats may be armed with other
types of weapons, including but not limited to pipe bombs, firebombs, various sharp
weapons, etc. Additional weapons might be detected as bags, cases or packages
carried by the gunmen. Each incident
should be analyzed carefully to determine just what we might be facing, so that
we can pass on the information to our backup units and other concerned
parties. The best way to get this
information to the incident command center is to call everything into dispatch or designated
command post
o Police Supervisory personnel will establish a command post as soon as possible in order to direct the situation and collect as much intelligence as possible on the gunmen. Once Galveston SWAT arrives, they will take over the situation. TAMUG supervisors will act as advisory consultants to the SWAT team with significant ability to influence actions on campus.
o
Officers will contain and isolate hostage
situations, while evacuating all nearby University members. Galveston SWAT will be called and they will
address the problem. TAMUG supervisors
will be advisors.