Student Tribune
Follow-up to Lockdown Dril
Since last week's lockdown drill incident at the Brighton Campus, we have
identified and begun implementing a number of steps that MCC must take to
assure that future drills are communicated appropriately. We understand how the
miscommunication affected students, employees and their families. Chief Perez
is meeting with student leaders and employees to hear concerns and ideas for
improvement. We are committed to addressing the cause of the incident and
ensuring that future drills are clearly identified.
The College conducts drills to develop and assess preparedness, and learn
additional ways to address campus safety and security. Based on lessons learned
and in the context of recent tragic incidents across the country, the Public
Safety Department is taking these steps in addition to regular safety drills,
ongoing training opportunities offered to the College community, and more
frequent communications on safety tools and processes:
- MCC will create an easily understood checklist identifying the steps to
take in a lockdown situation. Beginning in summer 2018, these will be
distributed in hard copy to employees and students at the beginning of each
semester. This checklist will be posted on the employee and student Blackboard
portals so that it is available this semester.
- MCC will assure a laminated cardstock version of this same checklist is
secured to an interior wall in each classroom/lab/office suite at all College
locations to provide a permanent reference in case of emergency.
In the current climate, the College is prioritizing both communications and
resource allocations related to campus safety and security. You will begin to
see more reminders about MCC Alert, MCC Guardian, training opportunities, and
steps you can take to assure the safety of our learning environment. Public
Safety will be more active in engaging employees and students in dialogue about
campus safety and security. You will see changes to some classroom doors and
locks and other investments in our campus infrastructure.
As a reminder, the Public
Safety website is a valuable resource that provides links to sign up for
both MCC Alert and MCC Guardian and includes videos that demonstrate how to
respond in a lockdown and the "run, hide, fight" protocols. It also offers a
"Silent Witness" form for individuals in the College community who suspect
criminal activity but feel the need to report anonymously. The most powerful
resource we have in prevention is the education and vigilance of our
community.
We thank Public Safety and all MCC employees and students for their
commitment to assuring a safe and secure learning and working environment at
our College.
President Anne M. Kress
Chief of Public Safety Tony Perez
Kress, Anne
President's Office
03/14/2018