RUPD offers training for responding to active shooter

Rice University Police Department (RUPD) has scheduled four brown-bag luncheons this fall to train faculty, staff and students what to do if they’re in a situation with an active shooter.

“The recent tragedy in Oregon and similar events in the news have prompted several members of the Rice community to ask what can be done to prepare for an active shooter on campus,” Chief of Police Johnny Whitehead said in an email to the Rice community. “Although I hope we never experience this type of incident at Rice, I’m glad people are thinking about this very real possibility and trying to anticipate how they would respond.”

The brown-bag sessions will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in Fondren Library’s Kyle Morrow Room (third floor) on Oct. 21, Nov. 5, Nov. 19 and Dec. 3.

These sessions complement RUPD’s other training efforts related to active shooters.

For the past three years, RUPD has been offering a 60- to 90-minute presentation to faculty, staff and students. The presentation includes a video about what to do if you find yourself in an active shooter or similar threatening situation, followed by a question-and-answer session. The training is available to departments, small groups and individuals upon request by contacting RUPD’s training coordinator, Sgt. Thomas Hudak, at 713-348-4594.

Resources are also available online. The video “Run. Hide. Fight: Surviving an Active Shooter Event” will help Rice students, staff and faculty determine the best course of action under various circumstances. It is posted on the Crisis Management Team website, http://emergency.rice.edu/go/doc/3795/1864214/.

The 2015 Rice University Annual Security Report has a section called “Active Threat Guidance” that addresses a wide variety of possible threats, including the active shooter scenario. To view the recommendations for how to respond to these situations, visit http://www.rice.edu/safety/Safety-Bulletin-2015.pdf and go to page 8.

“I encourage all members of the Rice community to join us for one of the upcoming brown-bag luncheons or to take advantage of our in-person training and online resources,” Whitehead said. “It’s much easier to plan ahead for what you need to do in case of an active shooter on campus rather than make decisions when you’re in a panic mode. The goal is to keep you and other members of the Rice community as safe as possible.”

When training sessions for 2016 have been scheduled, they will be posted at http://rupd.rice.edu/activethreatresponsetraining/.