After the anniversaries of two school shootings, Northwestern University Police Department Lt. Ron Godby discussed the lessons of the tragedies and their impact on campus safety, presenting a video he plans to incorporate into student safety training.
Godby introduced a screening of the educational film “Shots Fired on Campus: When Lightning Strikes” Tuesday afternoon for an audience of about 35 campus leaders who had been invited by the Office of Residential Life. The film instructs university students, faculty and staff on what to do in active shooter situations.
“Generally the last people to respond or appear at those kinds of incidents are police,” Godby said. He said active shooters are “determined to carry out an act they’ve planned,” and though police can respond in less than a minute, often that is already too late.
Godby said NUPD and Residential Life plan to integrate the video into their other safety training programs, though it drew criticism in the fall from professors for the fear it might incite in students. Due to the upsetting nature of the video’s content, they intend to present it to small groups at a time in an effort to counter the instincts that say, “It couldn’t happen here.”
“You can’t get yourself into that mind set and you can’t let the people that you love get into the mindset that nothing bad can happen,” Godby said. He said his intention was not to scare students, but rather to instill within them a sense of “healthy paranoia,” which the film refers to as a “survival mindset.”
The 30-minute video compares active shooter situations to being struck by lighting – it’s unlikely to happen, but one tends to avoid metal poles during thunderstorms. The presentation instructs students to rely on their basic survival instincts and gives tips on actions to take in different school shooting scenarios.
More than 200 campuses use the video, Godby said, adding that its popularity is part of a change in attitudes toward campus safety in the years following the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Whereas police used to wait for a SWAT team to enter a building with an active shooter, Godby said NUPD is now trained in “rapid response.” The video provides instruction on interacting with police officers during active shooter situations.
Communications Residential College President Tony Mucia said he had thought about what he would do in the event of a campus shooting, but had never considered how his role as a leader on campus would affect his actions.
“I never thought of myself as someone who would have to be in control of the situation,” the Communication freshman said.
Community Assistants, who were also invited to the screening, were trained in early September to manage crises.
“I think the most critical thing is having the mental preparedness,” said Dennis Loh, a CA in Allison Hall. The Weinberg senior said programs like “Shots Fired On Campus” are important for all students, not just authorities, to experience.
“In the end, when you’re sitting in a room and there’s a shooter, everyone is equal,” the Weinberg senior said. “Everyone has an opportunity and a responsibility to be a leader.”
