PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Colleges across Northeast Wisconsin are beginning move-in, with UW-Oshkosh’s kicking off Friday.
But with the new school year brings a new look at the campus’ active threat training.
“For the last 15 years, we’ve actually invested a lot of time in — how do we prepare, how do we build plans, how do we have resources in place for our students and faculty and staff?” said Chief Chris Tarmann with the UW-Oshkosh Police Department. “Knowing that we’re right in the middle of a city, that’s another thing that brings to surface something we should be prepared for.”
Tarmann said the false active shooting threats at Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were a shock, but an important lesson.
“The best thing for a community to understand is that it’s really easy to take in information and share it, because you want to be the first one to share information,” he said. “And so it’s pausing for a second and thinking about, how will this impact people around me? Do I know the source of where that information came from?”
UW-Green Bay doesn’t begin move-in until the end of the month, but its police department is still taking note after Thursday’s incidents.
“Anytime anything happens like this nationwide, we always take notice of it,” said UWGB Police Chief Tony Decker. “Look at what our perceived response would be, and then if there’s ways to improve it, based on how the law enforcement in that area did respond.”
Decker said his department is always looking to better its active threat protocols.
“We’re upgrading our fire alarm system. Our fire alarms actually allow us to put out emergency notifications through every building fire alarm,” Decker explained. “So instead of hearing a ringing, like say, ‘Hey, get out of the building,’ we can actually send messages. We make sure that our GB Alert program is working. We test our net notify, which puts a pop-up on every computer connected to our network.”
And with the start of school right around the corner, both departments are looking to keep everyone on campus safe.
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