The Department of Public Safety at the University is taking steps to respond more effectively to emergency situations.
Jay Kohl, the executive director of Public Safety, spoke to the Livingston Campus Council meeting Monday to inform members of ways the department is changing to help keep students safe.
"Rutgers can't guarantee 100 percent safety," Kohl said. "No one can, but it's important to note that we do take this seriously and try to prevent emergencies from the front side."
He said the department tries to prevent problems before they occur.
This past summer, the Rutgers University Police Department and police from the surrounding towns held a drill on Livingston campus to practice their response to an emergency situation.
Kohl said the drill was important because the police teams could see what they needed to do in order to improve.
"We wanted all the mistakes to be made there so that we know what needs to be done and we'd be prepared for next time," Kohl said.
A team working to train police for emergency situations designed the drill, he said. The team then critiques the drill and the police on what they did wrong.
"We practiced everything from using the emergency text message system to dealing with a hostage situation," Kohl said.
Kohl also addressed the emergency text messaging issue.
"In case of an emergency, public safety will send out as many notifications as possible, text messaging, e-mails, we want to be as redundant as we can as long as the message gets out to stay away," Kohl said.
He said the text messaging system is not always reliable because many times, especially in emergency situations, the lines get bogged down with people trying to use their phones, and the messages are not received when they need to be.
"The emergency texting system sends out the message fine, which is exactly what it's meant to do," Kohl said. "The problem is many times you won't get the actual message until a day later."
Council academic adviser Mary Nagy said she was concerned with what Public Safety is doing to prepare students for emergency situations.
"It's great that the police are so prepared," Nagy said. "But how are students being prepared? What [are they] being told to do in case of emergency occurs?"
Kohl said presentations are given all over campus, and students are urged to be attentive while walking around campus. If they see something suspicious they should contact the campus police.
"We are trying as best we can to train our students," Kohl said. "We hope that students take advantage of these [presentations] so we can all be prepared in case there is ever a problem."
Academic Affairs Committee chair John Geronimo asked about forming a student volunteer fire department.
Kohl said he felt it was a good idea. He said it would take time to form one, but if there is an interest, something may be able to be worked out.
"I'm a big fan of students," he said. "I have absolute faith in them and especially what I have seen so far with our student police volunteers. They help us out a lot and have really become our partner. I think it is definitely possible, and we are looking into it."
