CMU officials meet to address campus alert issues
Before the Thanksgiving break, a group representing Central Michigan University administrators, faculty, students and the CMU Police Department met to address communication issues with an Oct. 30 shooting threat on campus.
A 70-year old man threatened to fire shots in Pearce Hall. Officers responded within a minute to the call, but the investigation showed there was no weapon or immediate threat to anyone in the building.
Because it was determined that there was no threat to the campus community, CMU officials said they were not required to issue a campus alert under the Jeanne Clery Act. The act states that institutions must immediately notify the campus community only if a significant and immediate threat to the safety of the community has been confirmed.
However, some faculty members expressed dissatisfaction at an Academic Senate meeting with how CMUPD and Faculty Personnel Services handled the dissemination information of the threat. Officials were prompted to resolve the issue.
"One of the concerns is we interpret the word threat differently," said CMUPD Chief Bill Yeagley. "We use the term if they are indicating to harm someone and do have the means to carry that out."
The group decided that information should be shared with the campus community after threats are made toward multiple people in a public situation, and police conclude their investigation, determining no ongoing threat.
The meeting was attended by Dennnis Armistead, executive director of Faculty Personnel Services, Tony Voisin, associate vice president of Student Affairs, Yeagley, along with CMUPD Capt. Fred Harris and his lieutenants Larry Klaus and Cameron Wassman and Lori Hella, associate vice president of Human Resources.
Sherry Knight, vice president of University Communications, Lesley Withers, interim dean for the College of Communication and Fine Arts and Student Government Association Senator Will Joseph also participated.
"This is something else when it comes to general university communication," Knight said. "In this type of situation when we have this threat involving the potential for harming individuals, there needs to be some form of communication through UComm."
Knight said the group plans to meet again after the new year to determine how this communication will work and some of the finer questions like how to handle threats when campus is closed. She said the team wanted to make sure they were thorough.
Yeagley said it is important that police are releasing information responsibly. The Clery act also states that it is not advisable to release information if it would compromise efforts to contain the emergency.
"You cant make a decision to inform people of something until we have determined it is legitimate and sometimes that just takes time," Yeagley said. "Providing accurate information is important. We have to weigh each situation on the totality of what we know."
Like all universities, CMU does have an emergency action policy in the event of an active shooter situation. Specific departments have emergency action plans, and the CMUPD has procedures to respond to campus threats.
"We talked a lot about causing fear versus alleviating fear," Knight said. "We don't want to cause undo fear but make sure people have the information so they are not surprised. We want our community to be informed."
