After a year of planning, California State University, Stanislaus partnered with campus departments and community law enforcement agencies to run a full-scale safety drill Oct 8. which simulated a campus shooting catastrophe.
Some of the agencies that participated in the mock shooting drill were University Police Department (UPD), Student Health Center, Turlock Police Department, Turlock Fire Department, American Medical Response, Turlock Chaplaincy, Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services and the Merced Police Department.
Campus safety drills will be scheduled yearly however full scale drills are expected to occur every five years.
CSU Stanislaus is making great efforts to be one step ahead in an emergency situation and to have rehearsal under their belt.
“Here at the University Police Department our philosophy is we’re always striving for excellence and this exercise is part of our continuous improvement in serving the campus community,” Steve Jaureguy, Chief of Police said.
“It really helped us to improve our preparations in the event of an emergency, we’re really delighted with the outcome of it.”
A multi-year exercise training plan is used to ensure that all safety training and drills have been done. Each safety department is required to complete a pre-training before running a full-scale drill.
All aspects of the drill were compliant with Executive Order 1056, a safety policy relating to the development, implementation and maintenance of the campus emergency management.
The Executive Order guides the process on what steps are to be taken in order to make sure all aspects of safety are covered. This ensures the university adheres to The National Incident Management System on a local, state and federal level.
“Were stressing the point that President Sheley and his Cabinet are dedicated to making sure that our campus is as safe as it can possibly be, it is extremely important,” Kellie Marshall, Safety and Emergency Management Specialist said.
“We’re making it as safe as we can make [it], it is of our upmost and foremost concern.”
The UPD, along with their Safety Department, is making sure that students’ safety needs are met.