Students, faculty and staff have faceda barrage of information concerning the upgrades to University security since the April 16 Virginia Tech shootings. But how effective are these measures? University officials noted that actions have been taken on various fronts to address security concerns, but pointed out there is no measure that can completely eliminate risk.
Virginia schools have begun to adopt various security measures, such as Piedmont Virginia Community College's implementation of a text message system -- similar to the one established by the University over the summer -- this week to communicate alerts to students. The University itself has instituted other safety measures including LCD TV screens in Newcomb Hall, and it recently made a push to spend nearly $2 million to change the doors in buildings on Grounds so they can be locked from the inside, according to Mark Fletcher, chair of the Security and General Safety Committee.
The LCD televisions and the text message alert system are all effective steps toward securing Grounds, because the more options officials have to alert students, faculty and staff, the more successful the overall plan will be, according to Lt. Melissa Fielding of the University Police.
Fielding added that security plans are "very similar to an insurance policy -- it's one of those things you have to have but hope you never need to use."
Officials across the country have pointed out, however, that no security plan can provide blanket security for any given university.
"It is difficult to say that nothing bad will ever happen," Fielding said. "The more we do and plan for, the better off we will be in the long run."
John Nelson, co-chair of Student Council's Safety and Wellness Committee, agreed that the University is securing the safety of students by integrating several different security mechanisms.
"You have to approach the problem from multiple fronts," Nelson said. "That's what they are doing with the text messages, LCD screens, and the doors ... [Yet] there is no panacea, no catch all that is going to work for everything."
The major problem with implementing these safety precautions is that there is no way to gauge their effectiveness unless a disaster like the Tech shootings happens, Fletcher said.
"I would say that we are in a pretty good situation post-Tech, and I think we were prior [to] Tech as well," Fletcher said. "Is this the final answer? Hopefully we'll never have to find out"
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