Governor’s Campus Security Task Force Discusses Measures to Boost Security
JEFFERSON CITY, May 3, 2007-Co-chairs of Gov. Blunt’s Campus Security
Task Force Mark James, Director of Public Safety and Dr. Robert Stein, Commissioner
of Higher Education, spent the day probing campus security issues during their first meeting.
"Our vision for the task force is to simply evaluate every aspect of campus safety
to ensure a safe environment for our students,” James said. “We hope to develop
new safety measures to complement the security efforts that have been underway
on Missouri campuses over the past several years.”
“Through the work of our task force, Missouri will be positioned to build stronger
campus communities equipped to effectively coordinate rapid and comprehensive
responses to any future threats,” Dr. Stein said.
The task force highlighted aspects they plan to review over the next couple
of months while they deliberate on recommendations to the governor by August.
• Determine scope and magnitude of existing campus emergency plans
• Provide useful, tactical resources
• Identify best practices and share experiences
• Develop tool kit for collegiate campuses to keep plans current and up-to-date
The task force formed special sub-committees to explore key issues including;
planning and prevention, communications, risk mitigation and recovery and lesson learned. Also today they discussed opportunities for vendors and the public to
meet in a forum setting to make helpful suggestions and share ideas on campus safety.
The governor appointed the broad-based Campus Security Task Force
after the deadly Virginia Tech Shooting in April to examine the safety and
security at Missouri's higher education institutions and to help ensure a
more powerful partnership between school administrators and the public
safety community.
The group will provide a comprehensive report focused on initiatives to improve
safety standards and heighten security within buildings and facilities on campuses.
Prior to today’s meeting, James and Stein sent a memo to Missouri universities
and chancellors requesting their participation in an emergency response survey
to identify the scope and magnitude of existing campus plans. The deadline to
return the survey is May 7.