Download WCC Safe app to ensure preparation for an emergency
All Public Safety officials are thoroughly trained to ensure the safety of the campus community and encourage students to get involved. You can find information about protocols on the WCC Safe app. Lily Cole | Washtenaw Voice
Lily Cole
Editor
With a new upgrade to campus security cameras and ten assistance phones/towers, reported by the Voice in a previous article, Public Safety is encouraging students to think about what protocols are on campus.
John Leacher, chief of Public Safety, explains that WCC follows ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate), a protocol for addressing an active shooter–someone armed with anything intending to harm.
Faculty and staff participate in active violent intruder training with trained instructors once a semester.
“We explain the concepts of ALICE along with other information presented in the first hour of the two-hour class. Then, for the second hour, we run people through a couple of scenarios where they have an opportunity to utilize the training received in the first hour,” Leacher said. However, students don’t have any training sessions.
“For the two years I’ve been here,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is trying to get enough interest in the student body to conduct any training.”
Public Safety conducted a student training session in the fall of 2023, with only a few participating.
“Trust me, I get that you guys [students] are busy,” Leacher said. “You’ve got class loads. You got things to do. There’s no residential housing. Everybody is coming and going. But, if there’s interest out there, we want to be able to provide that training.”
Leacher said that in addition to semesterly training sessions, Public Safety participates in annual Table Top exercises with regional partners.
“We bring in Pittsfield Township, Michigan state police, the FBI, Huron Valley ambulance, Trinity Hospital, Eastern Michigan University–all the people who could potentially respond really quick to an incident that could happen here. We bring them together and go through something. In 2022, it was an active shooter exercise,” Leacher explained.
Leacher believes that WCC is different from other campuses because there’s more in place, specifically access control.
“We can lock down every room on campus with the push of a button. If we know there’s an emergency, someone calls it in, and we believe the entire campus is affected, we will lock every door and every classroom. It doesn’t lock anybody in but keeps them out,” he said.
“It gives me a really good feeling, and it should hopefully ease the concerns of the student body and as well as the faculty and staff,” he continued.
In the short term, Leacher suggests signing up for the WCC Safe App.
“Everything important you need to know is on that app,” he said.
Information about existing emergency protocols are available on the app, which can be downloaded for free from the Apple and Android stores.
“We are here to make sure you are safe, and you can do what you need to do while you’re here, which is get an education without having to worry about anything,” Leacher said. “If you see something, say something.”
Report suspicious activity to Public Safety at 734-973-3411 or ext. 3411
