Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA
04-17-07
VIRGINIA SHOOTING: Area officials examine safety procedures
CHAD NATION and PHIL ROONEY, Staff Writers
The deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University Monday has educators
across the state thinking about security on their own campuses.
All schools have policies and procedures in place for dealing with emergencies.
The plans spell out procedures for alerting people on campus, communicating
with the public and evacuating and locking down facilities. Schools seldom
discuss these plans in the public.
While Monday's shootings occurred on a college campus, Council Bluffs K-12
schools have also addressed the safety of students.
Council Bluffs Schools Interim Superintendent Jack Keegan said a two-day
workshop was held last Thursday and Friday to reinforce building safety, and he
plans to do some work on creating a different climate in the buildings and
improve safety plans before he leaves in June. Some of the work is to be
completed before the end of the school year, and a thorough review of all safety
procedures is planned for the summer.
"We will be looking at everything," Keegan said. A safety consultant, provided
through the district's insurance carrier, earlier visited all of the district's buildings;
and the reports are coming in to the administration.
"We continue to remind the principals that all the buildings need to be locked," he
said. New locks, that would allow entry by people with cards instead of keys, are
under consideration.
Keegan said improving and monitoring safety is a constant process.
"No matter how vigilant you are, something can happen," he said. People also
need to report anything that appears out of the ordinary, and those reports must
be taken seriously, he said.
Jennie Van Soelen, spokeswoman for St. Albert Catholic Schools, said a safety
review was undertaken following the fall shooting in which five girls died in a oneroom Amish school at Nickel Mines, Pa.
The schools made some changes, she said, including the installation of security
cameras at all doors and added the requirement that staff must electronically
admit visitors into the buildings.
Iowa Western Community College recently had to use the college's crisis
management plan and lock down the school.
In September, members of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office, the Council
Bluffs Police Department, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa
Department of Transportation and Immigration Services joined the Iowa State
Patrol in the search for a Bellevue, Neb., man that resulted in the lock down of
IWCC buildings.
Victor Mar-Betancourt was captured near the Iowa National Guard Armory at
2415 E. Kanesville Blvd., after failing to stop for a trooper and leading law
enforcement officials on a nearly two-hour manhunt. At the time, it was thought
Mar-Betancourt had fired a weapon at the trooper, though that was proven false
later in the day.
The search began near IWCC and officials moved quickly to lock down the
school.
The lock down went on for approximately 25 minutes before college officials
received word that the campus could be opened up again.
Officials at the college were pleased with the implementation of the lock down in
September, but speculated that minor adjustments would be needed. It is unclear
if those adjustments have been implemented.
IWCC President Dan Kinney did not return calls seeking comment on the
school's safety procedures this morning.
Gov. Chet Culver, a Virginia Tech graduate, discussed the incident and said the
shootings should spark a national discussion about campus violence.
Culver also mentioned that the deaths were especially disturbing to Iowans
because of a 1991 shooting at the University of Iowa that left five employees
dead and two wounded. The shooter, graduate student Gang Lu, then fatally shot
himself.
University of Iowa Interim President Gary Fethke sent a letter to Virginia Tech
President Charles W. Steger offering condolences.
"Though it has been more than 15 years since our campus faced its own gunrelated tragedy, that experience remains fresh in our minds today," Fethke wrote.
"As a result, we empathize with the magnitude of what you are confronting today
and what you will face in the days and months ahead as you grieve this great
loss."
Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy called the violence and
loss of life "senseless and devastating."
"Safety is, and always has been, a top priority at Iowa State," Geoffrey said in a
statement. "While we know that violence can happen anywhere, at any time,
Iowa State has procedures in place to protect the campus community and
respond to threatening incidents."