Could It Happen Here?

By 250 News

“The Post Secondary community is very close” says UNBC’s head of Communications Rob Van Adrichem.  “The events of yesterday have an impact on all of us.  School is supposed to be a safe place and when events like this happen it makes us think about how we can create an environment of openness and friendliness, yet still be prepared."

Yesterday, a 25 year old man opened fire at Dawson College in Montreal, the school, killing one and wounding several others before being shot dead by police.

UNBC’s Emergency Response Plan is just two years old, but Van Adrichem says it is constantly under review.  At UNBC,  Van Adrichem  says the initial planning of the University took security  very seriously  “Our stairwells have windows and lighting, as we recognized stairways pose a higher risk to safety”.  The buildings may seem wide open but each pod could be quickly and easily sealed off.  There are surveillance cameras and the University is discussing adding more.  There are security guards on site 24 / 7.   There is a “safe walk” program that means security will escort anyone to a vehicle if they request it.  Lighting is important with well lit paths from the campus to the residence and from the campus to University Way.  Even the landscaping was designed with security in mind.  “There are no shrubs on campus that a person could hide behind” says Van Adrichem who says security is  a factor  when people are choosing a  College or University "We are regularly asked about security when we are on recruiting sessions across the country".

Other than having security in place and emergency plans ready, there’s not much any institution can do to prepare for an incident like the shooting that happened this week at a Montreal college, says Wes Barker, Assistant Manager of Facilities at the College of New Caledonia

“We would have to put metal detectors in. We would have to seriously impinge on the rights of students to move about,” says Barker. “We live in a free and democratic society and we all value the right to move freely about the college and about our city.”

“CNC has guards on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s a guard present at all times. We have an extensive array of video surveillance equipment throughout the college. We also have emergency preparedness planning in place for disasters.”

“We’ve had very little imminent risk and we try to deal with any perceived risk as quickly as possible.” CNC gets the occasional transient or suspicious-looking person going through, says Barker, and guards take immediate action to find out if the individual has legitimate business at the College.

CNC security also has a good working relationship with the local RCMP. “If we feel there’s any concern at all, we call them right away. They are the true professionals in dealing with these type of threats,” says Barker.

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