By GREGORY ZELLER //
An active-shooter situation is expected Friday at Adelphi University – but this one has the potential to save lives.
Six Long Island colleges and universities will join regional law enforcement agencies for a conference on active-shooter and hostile-intruder protocols, designed to reinforce basic responses and best practices in the event of the unthinkable.
Representatives of Hofstra University, Molloy University, Long Island University, SUNY Old Westbury and Nassau Community College are expected to gather at Adelphi’s Ruth S. Harley University Center, where Adelphi’s Department of Public Safety and Transportation will partner with the Garden City Police Department and the Nassau County Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to lead an afternoon of training workshops and public-safety discussions.
The attending schools are all members of the Intercollegiate Safety, Security & Emergency Management Council, established earlier this year by Adelphi University Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency management Raymond Hughes. The working group is designed to increase campus security and law enforcement by promoting communication and sharing resources.
Raymond Hughes: Strength in numbers.
Among other efforts, the group has produced Security Blanket, a newsletter that regularly updates members on the latest campus-safety statistics – hostile intruders, sexual assaults, drug overdoses, facemask policies and more – and sharing fresh tips based on actual cases and lessons learned.
The newsletter also informs member institutions about new safety and security training and certification opportunities, including critical naloxone training, and best practices for complying with the Clery Act, which requires federally funded colleges and universities to share an annual security report with students and staffers.
By disseminating this information – and through events like Friday’s active-shooter seminar – the ISSEMC is fulfilling its primary mission, according to founder Hughes, who believes calling in backup is the best way to “ensure safe and secure communities.”
“As we continue to emphasize the importance of safety on our campuses, we have learned that in order to be effective, we cannot operate alone,” the Adelphi security chief said Tuesday. “Rather, we need active support, representation and engagement in order to provide varying ideas, approaches and solutions for equitable emergency planning and response to our individual and neighboring institutions.”
