This Letter to the Editor was submitted by Director of Public Safety Sara Holzmeier.
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An active shooter incident can happen anywhere at any time. Recent events, such as the Parkland School shooting, remind us of this. In September of 2015, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) produced a short 6 minute video that could save your life. This short video gives you the options you have in responding to an active shooter situation on campus. Get out. Lock out. Take out. This video can be viewed on the Truman DPS website by clicking on the red “Emergency Procedures” tab at the top left hand side of the page.
Along with this video, all emergency procedure posters on campus reflect the same information on how to respond. Emergency posters are up in all classrooms on campus. Anyone at any time can request an Active Shooter presentation from the Department of Public Safety. On average, we currently present between 10-15 presentations a year on active shooter preparedness to various groups of individuals on campus, including all freshmen and new Faculty & Staff.
Most recently, DPS has also been working in conjunction with Dr. Janet Gooch in the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Office during the 2017-18 school year on safety information, faculty can provide to students at the beginning of each of their classes on emergency preparedness.
Finally, officers at the DPS train annually on how to respond to active shooter events. I am confident that we are fully prepared to respond quickly to protect the faculty, staff and students at Truman State University in an active shooter event. Your safety is our #1 priority.
As your Director of Public Safety, I want everyone to be mentally prepared for an event like this. Mentally rehearsing what to do can help you react quickly when every second counts.
If anyone would like to request a presentation or has any questions in regard to active shooter preparedness, please contact the DPS at 660-785-4176 or by email at sholzmeier@truman.edu.