ALLENDALE, Mich. — Grand Valley State University held a safety briefing Thursday to give the campus community information about the plans and systems in place in case of an active shooting event.
UPDATE: Because Grand Valley has moved to remote status, a single online only safety briefing will be held at 1 p.m. . A recording of the briefing will be available on GVSU's website shortly after it ends: https://t.co/GNelBmfsCn https://t.co/ksPNv3KFkP
— Grand Valley State (@GVSU) February 23, 2023
Brandon DeHaan, GVSU’s director of public safety and chief of police, explained some of the training his officers go through to be prepared for dangerous situations.
“Those officers receive over 60 hours of training per year. Part of that training revolves around the response to active shooter. When we talk about the response to active shooter, that training, we do so with our partner, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office. We’ve been doing that for over a decade…and we recently, within the past several years, began training with Rescue Task Force (RTF),” Chief DeHaan added.
RTF allows officers to work with fire and emergency services to remove people with injuries quickly from critical situations, which can help save lives.
Sergeant Billy O’Donnell, GVSU’s emergency manager, broke down some of the physical and technological things in place in the event of an emergency.
The Grand Valley Police Department Dispatch Center is responsible for sending out emergency messages via the GVSU Alert emergency notification system.
These alerts give community members information about emergency situations through text messages, emails and phone calls.
To sign up for alerts or manage your preferences, click here.
Additionally, the dispatch center can lock down each of the four GVSU campuses with the swift press of a button.
The buttons, installed in 2019, will lock every exterior door on campus.
Additionally, GVSU installed thumb turn locks on every single classroom door in 2017. This way, students and staff members can secure the space as quickly as possible.
In case of an active shooter situation, there are “stop the bleed” bleeding control bands located in each AED cabinet on campus.
These contain tourniquets, chest seals and packing material for wounds, which can be the difference between life and death.
Sgt. O’Donnell says there are more than 1,600 security cameras on GVSU’s campuses. While law enforcement does not monitor every camera actively, officers are able to review them forensically.
Ottawa County Central 911 and the Grand Rapids Police Department also have access to current views of certain security cameras on campus.
Sgt. O’Donnell also reminded students to use the Laker Guardian app. It allows dispatch to virtually walk with you from one place to another, hit a one-click panic button, set a safety timer and text with GVPD.
GVSU Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan:
GVSU Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan by WXMI on Scribd
“We take safety as our absolute, number one priority,” GVSU President Philomena Mantella said Thursday.
To watch the full GVSU Campus Safety Briefing, click here.
