2023 Annual Security Report

2023 ANNUAL SECURITY REPORT 15 Communicating Security Threats to the KU Community Kutztown University is committed to ensuring the KU campus community receives timely, accurate and useful information in the event of a significant emergency or dangerous situation on campus or in the local area that poses an immediate threat to the health and/or safety of campus community members. At any point during the year, KU students, faculty and staff may receive notification about criminal activity or a dangerous situation on campus. These notifications fall under two categories: Emergency Notifications and Timely Warning Notifications. EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS The University will immediately notify the KU community via an Emergency Notification upon confirmation of an emergency or dangerous situation. This notification will serve to immediately alert the campus community of any type of significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health/safety of students, faculty, staff or visitors. An “immediate threat” includes an imminent or impending threat, such as an approaching tornado or a fire in a campus building. Other emergencies can range from a bomb threat or gas leak to an active shooter situation on campus. The Emergency Notification will provide information that will allow community members to remain as safe and secure as possible. Initiating the Emergency Notification System When a campus emergency and/or crime is reported to KUPD, the dispatcher receiving the call will immediately dispatch a police officer to the scene to assess the situation. Additional emergency services, such as an ambulance or fire response, may also be dispatched based upon the information provided by the caller and/or the report from the officer/first responder who arrives on scene and assesses the situation. Once first responders confirm that there is, in fact, an emergency or dangerous situation that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of some or all members of the campus community, the director of the Emergency Management Team (EMT) (the Chief of Police) will be notified. The EMT will immediately determine if the event meets the necessary criteria to issue an Emergency Notification. If it does, an Emergency Notification will be immediately dispatched. For threats that necessitate immediate life-saving actions, such as an active shooter, first responders or the on-duty KUPD officer-in-charge (OIC) has the authority to authorize the distribution of an Emergency Notification. Administrators, supervisors, and officers of the department of Public Safety/KUPD have received training in the Incident Command System and responding to critical incidents on campus. When a serious incident occurs that causes an immediate threat to the campus, the first responders to the scene are usually Department of Public Safety and Police Services officers. Officers responding to reported emergencies, will evaluate and determine what is occurring. They will begin to formulate a response to the situation and make determinations as to who needs to be notified, what additional resources they need, and what actions they must take to minimize, correct, or address the emergency. Officers will base their actions on what they observe, the information provided to them by persons involved, witnesses, or by reports received. Their primary response shall be based upon the preservation of life and the protection of property. If the EMT or KUPD OIC determines that an institutional emergency notification is warranted, the University, will, without delay, and considering the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the KU Alert notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of Responsible University Authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency. Depending on the nature of the incident, other local, state, or federal response agencies could also be involved in the response and management of the incident. For weather-related crises, confirmation is made based upon information provided by the National Weather Service. Once the crisis is confirmed, the University will, without delay, and considering the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the KU Alert notification system. Responsible University Authorities

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzcxOTE=