SALT LAKE CITY — Police chiefs at some of Utah’s universities assure they have plans in place should an active shooter situation like the one at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas unfold at one of the state’s campuses.
“What's sad now is it just seems to be such a recurring event somewhere in this country,” said Captain Jason Hinojosa with the University of Utah Police Department.
He said they are constantly reevaluating their tactics and training multiple times per year.
“With just officers, we do train tactics, we do train with the equipment we have and then we also at the various buildings we have on campus,” said Hinojosa. “I mean, we have to look at what challenges we face with the layout of certain buildings, how the doors lock, how to gain access to these buildings on campus.”
The University of Utah, along with other campuses like Utah State University’s Police Chief Jason Brei say they also involve students and staff in their plan.
“We have our staff and our students go through armed aggressor training that for our new student orientation are provided access to that training and our employees are provided that training as well,” said Brei.
Brei said Utah State University has a campus-wide alert system that students are automatically a part of when they onboard at the school, which is an important part of being prepared.
“Personal awareness, knowing what's going on around you, having the Aggie Alert System for us specifically,” he said, “Making sure that parents are updated on that as well as their students. It’s how we communicate with individuals to run, hide, fight, or what to do and where to go… where not to go.”
He said if you see something that seems off, to contact the police.
“If there is something that just doesn't seem right, do not to hesitate to contact law enforcement and let us know, give a good explanation of why it doesn't feel appropriate for the time place or manner so that we can make that assessment and send someone to take a secondary look at that as well,” said Brei.
Both said they’re constantly reevaluating their protocols and training and hope a similar situation never impacts Utah, let alone any other campus.
“It's hard to say you're really ever prepared because it's such an enormous and overwhelming thing to face,” said Hinojosa, “But we, we do train and we do educate and try to be as, as prepared as we can possibly be for that type of incident. If we had to respond to that, I am confident that we would be able to engage and handle this situation fairly quickly.”
Information about the U of U preparedness can be found here.
A training video that is regularly shared with all students, faculty and staff can be found here.
Information on how to sign family or friends up for the Aggie Alert system can be found here.
