Can We Make Campuses Safer?

By Julie Rawe

In the wake of the Columbine massacre, which took place eight years = ago this=20 week, many high schools across the country installed metal detectors. = Most=20 universities, however, didn't follow suit and they're not likely to even = now,=20 after 33 people (including the gunman) were killed at Virginia Tech on = Monday in=20 the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.=20

Unlike most elementary and high schools, college campuses are almost = by=20 design too sprawling to cordon off. Their layouts have long been = intended to=20 reflect higher education's free flow of ideas, and such philosophical = openness=20 makes adding metal detectors not only undesirable but also logistically=20 impossible. "Unless," says Mark Meyer, director of sales at = metal-detector firm=20 CEIA, "you want to make a campus into a fortress."=20

And no one =E2=80=94 not even campus safety directors =E2=80=94 is = likely to push for such an=20 outcome. Still, some select parts of campuses have been successfully = secured in=20 recent years. Sexual assault and other incidents in college dorms have = led many=20 schools to control access to these buildings by giving residents a kind = of=20 electronic key, often called a prox card, that can also be used to track = the=20 comings and goings of individual students. This technology is starting = to spread=20 to academic buildings, but daytime access to classrooms is still largely = unrestricted.=20

In the Virginia Tech massacre, parents and students were outraged = that the=20 school took so long to notify people that a gunman was on the loose, and = when=20 the announcement was finally made =E2=80=94 some two hours after the = first reports of=20 gun shots on campus =E2=80=94 the warning was delivered silently over = email. But=20 technology exists that could have sent more students inside, behind = locked=20 doors, much sooner. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is one = of 10=20 schools that is using Digital Acoustics' high-tech intercom system, = which can=20 immediately broadcast a message to a single classroom or to the entire = campus or=20 to any combination in between.=20

Johns Hopkins University is using cutting-edge technology =E2=80=94 = every few weeks,=20 campus safety officers from yet another school come by to check out the = new=20 system =E2=80=94 which places "smart" video cameras around campus that = rely on computer=20 algorithms to detect suspicious activity. The university is about to = install=20 another camera, bringing the total to 102 on its main Homewood campus, = that will=20 alert a security officer if it films someone climbing up a fence, = walking down=20 an alley late at night or lingering by a windowsill. But, says a Johns = Hopkins=20 spokesman, the software is not yet able to pick out whether a person is = carrying=20 a gun.=20

Sophisticated technology doesn't come cheap, and neither do highly = trained=20 campus security officers. In the past, says Steven Healy, public safety = director=20 at Princeton University, campus security officers have had to fight for = limited=20 resources at many schools by "asking people to imagine the = unimaginable."=20

But even if Monday's events help loosen purse strings, security = systems are=20 improving at such a rapid pace that schools aren't sure how much to buy. = "When=20 do you say stop?," asks Healy, who is also president of the = International=20 Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. "We don't want to = create=20 fortresses."=20

He and others stress the need for more highly trained officers. "But = how many=20 boots do you put on the ground?" Healy asks. "You can't assign an = officer to=20 every student."=20

Some schools like Princeton train professors how to spot signs of = depression,=20 and access to mental-health services is a big part of preventive efforts = on many=20 campuses. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to tell someone if = they see=20 suspicious or troubling activity. Says Gene Burton, public safety = director at=20 Ball State University: "You need to get everyone on board." But as = colleges and=20 universities learned on Monday, it often takes a tragedy to expose just = how many=20 weaknesses there are in the system.

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