University Police Officer Michael Hughes watches on during a traffic stop in Oxford, Miss., Friday, April 25, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
With the anonymous threats of violence causing campus-wide lockdowns at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the University Police Department is being questioned about their own crisis plans.
Students at The University of Mississippi have never had to react to an active shooter on campus. UPD Chief of Police Calvin Sellers said the only threats he’s had to respond to in his time at the department have been bomb threats and unidentified packages left at buildings.
Several years ago, there was a bomb threat to a football player’s car, which required UPD to fence off the area and investigate the claim. There was also a call about a suspicious package in the Malco Movie Theater parking lot for which UPD brought in the Tupelo bomb squad. After investigation it was determined neither instance included a bomb.
“UPD has their own explosive detective canine to use in such situations,” Sellers said. “Batesville, Desoto County and others all have bomb dogs and have been here to help us in the past. They come and assist us with a sweep of the football stadium Friday nights before the games.”
The Friday before the Texas vs. Ole Miss game in Oxford during the 2012 season, the University of Texas in Austin received a bomb threat that threw the campus into a panic, resulting in an evacuation.
“We were having meetings in here 6 o’clock Friday night,” Sellers said. “They were having meetings at the athletic department trying to decide what’s going to be our plan of action if we get a bomb threat tomorrow halfway into this football game.”
UPD decided if there was a bomb threat, they’d set up a command center and decide what needed to be done, even if the nationally televised game would need to be called early. Fortunately, no bomb was found at the University of Texas, and no bomb threats occurred during the game the next day.
Sellers stressed how important providing efficient security football games are to his department.
“That’s probably the single most dangerous thing we have is a football game,” Sellers said. “We have such a crowd in such an area that is so wide open.”
An evolving problem found at college campuses involves threatening anonymous posts on social media apps. Police at the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Georgia both made arrests this past week concerning threats made on social media app Yik Yak. Pearl River Community College officials said their campus police have had to follow up on several posts as well.
UPD has not had to deal with any serious threats but said they are certain they are well-prepared for any crisis that may occur.
A procedural instruction video can be found on the UPD website under “Emergency Information” giving explicit instructions from active UPD officers to students regarding what to do in the case of an active shooter on campus. The main focus of the video tells students to follow three main actions: avoid, deny and defend.
Avoid the situation by knowing where the exits to your building are.
Then, immediately leave the danger by getting out of the building. If escape isn’t possible, the next step is to find a safe room to hide yourself in and deny access to anyone trying to enter the room.
If you aren’t able to deny the shooter, UPD encourages you not to allow yourself to be an easy target. Use any objects near you to throw at the shooter in order to defend yourself.
Michael Harmon, captain of field operations for UPD, offered tips dealing with an intruder.
“Barricade the door,” he said. “If he comes in, attack him; he might shoot you, but he might not shoot everybody in there.”
Textbooks are also considered an effective weapon to use against an active shooter.
If there ever were a threat, Sellers feels certain UPD would be able to resolve the threat in a timely manner and find the perpetrator with the help of the FBI.
