Governor Jim Doyle's Task Force on Campus Safety, which was formed in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed over 30 lives, has released its interim report.
[Students] have a lot on their minds, but one thing I don't want them or their families worrying about is whether their campus is unprepared for an emergency,"" Doyle said in a statement on the report.
The report deals in four areas: prevention, intervention, response and post-incident activities. Office of Justice Assistance spokesperson Ryan Sugden said the topics in the report do not give a ""one size fits all"" solution to campus safety, as there is large variation between campuses across the state.
""Each campus is unique,"" Sugden said, with different campuses dealing with individual problems and the report showcasing ""best practice criteria"" for schools.
As an example, UW-Madison has a campus spread over dozens of buildings, offering different security challenges compared to smaller schools, according to Sugden.
Despite the differences among campuses, the report details several current practices that are working across the state. UW-Green Bay has a system that sends pop-up warnings to anyone logged onto the campus network and Marquette University now has mental health workers trained in better identifying mental illness, according to the report.
""Across the campuses of the state, commendable practices are in place. That is good news,"" said UW-Green Bay Chancellor and Task Force Co-Chair Bruce Shepard.
The issue of communication on campus during an emergency is also dealt with in the report, emphasizing systems that are flexible and able to function even if limited information is available.
Interaction between university and local police is similarly discussed, with the suggestion that all the different types of first responders have a common radio frequency to decrease confusion.
""Clearly, the importance of close coordination, cooperation and communication between law enforcement and campus officials is essential as it relates to safety,"" said Roger Leque, River Falls police chief and Task Force co-chair.
The purpose of releasing the August interim report was to give information to university and college administrators before classes started, according to Sugden. The final report will be released in early November and deal more extensively with issues such as security technology.
