AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Following last week’s Michigan State University shooting, Auburn’s Campus Safety and Security continues to reevaluate and strengthen its own safety protocols.
Auburn used to follow the ALICE acronym meaning Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.
“We looked at what are the best practices across the nation when it comes to active attacker situations, and we've switched to teaching the run hide fight model,” said Floyd Johnson, director of emergency management.
Johnson explained why they switched from the ALICE model to the run, hide, fight model.
“Across the country, we’re built on this old mentality that really talked heavily on lockdown, barricade, secure in place and that kind of thing,” said Johnson. “And so what we are switching to and have kind of adapted to is to say, ‘hey, we have run hide fight, you have a variety of options.’ Lockdown and barricade, while it is an option, maybe it isn't always the first option that you should look at. Maybe it is better to remove yourself from the equation altogether right away if it's safe to do so.”
Campus Safety and Security frequently holds active attacker training sessions at Auburn University to inform students and faculty of how to handle an active attacker situation if ever faced with the circumstance.
“I think we've come up with a class I think that's more in line with the best practices and the things that have kind of evolved over the years,” said Johnson.
During the active shooter training sessions, Campus Safety and Security talks about not just what to do during the event of an active shooter, but also how to be proactive through ‘see something, say something’ in the event this type of situation could be avoided altogether.
“There's a lot of layers in my mind that really go into the self prepare portion of an active shooter or active attacker event,” said Johnson. “We try to touch on all those different layers, provide examples and do some hands-on kind of class participation as well.”
On March 16, Campus Safety and Security plans to hold its next active shooter response training. Johnson stressed the importance of attending these training sessions to better prepare those at Auburn and keep the campus safe.
Campus Safety and Security also allows campus organizations to sign up for its own training sessions.
For more information on how to sign up for these sessions or host a session at your own campus organization, email campussafety@auburn.edu
