Division of Student Services

Taking steps to prevent, respond to campus emergencies
Threat Assessment Team next step in prevention

The tragic incidents at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, like a large stone tossed into a pond, sent ripples of concern and fear throughout higherActive shooter photo one education institutions across the country, including at Western Illinois University.

The University has sought ways to respond to these uncertain times with collaboration by many groups and departments such as the Emergency Operations Planning Committee, the Office of Public Safety, Student Development and Orientation, the University Counseling Center and the Emergency Consultation Team, to name a few.

The Emergency Operations Planning Committee, chaired by Dana Biernbaum ‘99, assistant vice president for administrative services, is one example of the work being done to increase safety and security. Biernbaum has provided exceptional leadership to ensure that Western Illinois University is prepared to respond in the aftermath of a large-scale emergency. This preparation has included several tabletop exercises and a full-scale active shooter exercise held in May; the drafting of an emergency operations planning manual; and implementation of the Western Emergency Alert System (WEAS). Western’s Office of Public Safety, under the direction of Bob Fitzgerald ‘74, has installed public announcement speakers to the emergency call boxes on the Macomb campus, as well as in the residence halls, so that announcements can be made in the case of an emergency.

Active shooter photo twoLate last spring, in collaboration with McDonough County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), Western participated in a full-scale emergency operations exercise on the Macomb campus. The exercise, which focused on an active shooter scenario, involved local, state and federal law enforcement personnel; first responders; state agency officials; and students from the Great Lakes (IL) Naval Base; WIU emergency and law enforcement personnel; WIU students; and select WIU staff.

In addition to being prepared to respond to a crisis situation, there are efforts underway to create a system with an intervention and prevention focus.
In the Fall 2007, Jim DiTulio, director of the University Counseling Center on the Macomb campus, was asked to join the Illinois Campus Security Task force and to chair a subcommittee that was charged with, among other things, the task of surveying every college and university in the state of Illinois to evaluate the availability of mental health services for college students and identify gaps in services. The product of this committee directly impacted the establishment of the Campus Security Enhancement Act of 2008. That act outlined several requirements, one of which is the development and implementation of a campus violence prevention committee and campus threat assessment team at every college and university in the state.

Why are all of the institutions of higher education in Illinois being required to establish Threat Assessment Teams and what exactly is this?
A review of tragic incidents, like the shootings at Virginia Tech, revealed a common element. Many individuals had information of concern about the eventual perpetrator, but the pieces of the puzzle were not being shared in a central location with the appropriate people who could intervene and perhaps prevent violent acts from occurring. According the 2008 book “The Handbook for Campus Threat Assessment Teams,” a Threat Assessment Team is “a multidisciplinary team that interacts and operates on a regular basis.”

The team is available to review and discuss any students, employees or other persons who have raised concern and may be at risk of harming either themselves orActive shooter photo three others, or who pose a significant disruption to the learning, living, or working environment. The team receives and assesses all reports of threats…and has the responsibility to evaluate the legitimacy of concerns reported to it, assess the likelihood that an individual may cause harm to himself/herself or others, develop strategies for reducing the risk, implement these strategies, and then monitor and re-evaluate the situation to ensure that they have been effective.”

Western has a long history of efforts in place to identify troubled students and provide timely interventions through the Emergency Consultation Team (ECT), which was established in 1983 by Vice President for Student Services Garry Johnson and his colleagues Nell Koester, Larry Miltenberger, Chuck O’Brien and Cari Sheets MS ED ‘72. The Emergency Consultation Team continues today, chaired by Tracy Scott MA ‘90 of Student Development and Orientation, but serves a somewhat different purpose and function than a Threat Assessment Team. For this reason, DiTulio will spend the next six months working full-time on researching, designing and implementing a Threat Assessment Team for the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses; one that Western can be proud of.

“Western Illinois University has four admirable values that guide our fine institution: Academic Excellence, Educational Opportunity, Personal Growth and Social Responsibility. However, we know from Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, that physical and safety needs must be met before any individual or institution can address higher level needs or values,” DiTulio said. “Simply stated, we must ensure that our campus is a safe place to live and work before we can strive to obtain our individual and institutional goals.

“The Emergency Operations Planning committee, the Emergency Consultation Team, the Office of Public Safety, the Quad Cities campus security team, and the establishment of a Threat Assessment Team on both campuses demonstrate that Western Illinois University is working hard to ensure we have a safe and secure environment to support our primary goal: the education of students and future alumni,” he added.

Top Photo: Response teams patrolled the campus, searching for the “shooter” and securing the perimeters during a full-scale emergency operations exercise May 27 that focused on an active shooter scenario.

Middle Photo: Student-actors and emergency personnel wait for further instructions during the exercise.

Bottom Photo: Student volunteer “victims” with “wounds” following the mock shooting exercise. A new Threat Assessment Team is being developed to help prevent an actual tragedy.

 

 

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