Cops and Schools Prepare for the Worst
April 18, 2007 — -- After Monday's deadly shootings at Virginia Tech, some police departments and universities have already developed new security procedures in the event of a similar emergency, while others have taken more of a wait-and-see approach.
Tuesday in Boston, Police Commissioner Edward Davis convened a special meeting between state and municipal law enforcement authorities, Mayor Thomas Menino and administrators from local colleges and universities.
Boston police offered to train armed campus security officers "in ... active shooter techniques," basically teaching officers how to shoot armed suspects, said Elaine Driscoll, director of communications for the Boston Police Department.
Boston and the surrounding areas are home to some 50 colleges and universities, each with its own security department. Some schools have armed accredited police officers, while others have unarmed security guards.
Driscoll also said the city will cooperate with universities to improve protocol, "the real what happens when" in the event of an emergency, as well as "communication between law enforcement personnel and universities, and universities and their students."
She said Boston police would "check our ability to communicate with university police departments on a [designated] radio frequency for immediate communications."
Officials at Harvard and MIT told ABCNEWS.com that they regularly re-evaluate security procedures and cooperate with local law enforcement authorities.
By contrast, police in Philadelphia, also home to a large number of educational institutions, "have not been in touch with local universities. … Local colleges are responsible for their own security," said Officer Yolanda Dawkins, a Philadelphia police spokeswoman.
"In the event of something big, we'll help but we haven't contacted them to develop new measures," she said.
Some campus and municipal police officials contacted by ABCNEWS.com said it was still too soon after Monday's incident, during which 23-year-old Seung-hui Cho killed 33 people on the Virginia Tech campus.
