Sally Levin '24
Staff Editor
On Wednesday, September 13, the Dean’s Office invited the UVA Department of Safety & Security to give a presentation to Law School faculty, staff, and students on active attacker prevention, response, and notification. The training was led by three members of the UVA Threat Assessment Team: University Police Sergeant and Victim/Witness Assistance Program Coordinator Ben Rexrode, Dr. Anna Grace Burnette, Associate Director of Threat Assessment, and Dr. Rachel Slotter, an Emergency Management Coordinator.
At the end of last semester, a group of 2Ls asked the Law School to host a yearly training in a proposal to the administration regarding safety at the Law School.[1] The proposal also requested that the Law School host a listening session on campus safety issues, the creation of a campus safety committee with faculty and students, and a concrete emergency plan for students and faculty. It was signed by nearly ninety students and endorsed by the Student Bar Association. In addition to hosting this week’s training session, Senior Associate Dean Stephen Parr will be meeting with the students who submitted the proposal next week. Annie Somerville ’24, one of the students involved in writing the proposal, said she “looks forward to having the opportunity to voice her concerns and collaborate with the Law School administration on campus safety issues.”
Before beginning the training, Rexrode acknowledged the difficulty of the topic, especially given the shooting on Main Grounds last November.[2] He explained that the shooting has had a ripple effect across grounds. While the Threat Assessment Team has hosted active attacker trainings across Grounds for years, more departments and groups have requested trainings since last fall. Rexrode stated that “the purpose of the presentation is to promote education, not to create fear or paranoia.”
Following the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, Virginia was one of the first states to pass legislation requiring threat assessment procedures in institutions of higher education.[3] The mission of the Threat Assessment Team is to identify, assess, and evaluate potential threats of violence in both academic and medical settings. Burnette explained that the Threat Assessment Team is “working in the grey” because they are gathering information and assessing the credibility of threats before law enforcement is involved.
Next, Sergeant Rexrode discussed responding to active attacker situations. He played the Active Attack Prevention and Response Video, which all students were required to watch via SIS before the start of the academic year.[4] Rexrode stressed that every building on grounds will have a different response plan, and that we all must do what is best for us as individuals during a violent attack.
Diddy Morris, the Special Assistant to the Dean, spoke briefly about safety precautions specific to the Law School building. Both she and the other presenters encouraged attendees to identify the emergency exits in different areas of the Law School. She noted that certain classrooms in Brown Hall have interior exits that lead down to the exit near Caplin Auditorium. Classrooms in Slaughter Hall also have connected interior exits in the back of each room. Morris warned that while it might be tempting to evacuate to Spies or Purcell Garden, both should be avoided during an emergency because they are fully enclosed. All classroom doors are also equipped with thumb latches to manually lock the doors from inside.
The presentation also covered the different types of alerts sent via the UVA safety notification system. There are three different types of alerts: UVA Alerts, Community Alerts, and General Communications. A UVA Alert is an emergency notification for situations involving an imminent threat to health or safety. This includes warnings for severe weather, gas leaks, fires, and armed intruders. Community Alerts are required by the Cleary Act and are released by the UVA Police Department when certain crimes are reported on or near University property. General Communications provide awareness and updates about safety issues when there is no ongoing threat. This is the first year the University is sending out UVA Alerts via text message in addition to email.
During the hour-long presentation on Wednesday afternoon, attendees received a Community Alert email reporting shots fired on Preston Avenue and news alerts about an active lockdown situation at the University of North Carolina. These real-time notifications underscore the need for active attacker prevention and response training and the importance of UVA’s safety notification system.
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ezn3yy@virginia.edu
[1] Proposal to Increase Campus Safety at UVA Law (April 19, 2023), https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-BC4CjyVAbvRxVWkdQLezUtMLsj_KQQ-3M_ZzEQ8xic/edit.
[2] Justen Jouvenal & Lisa Grace Lednicer, Timeline: How the U-Va. Shooting Unfolded, Wash. Post (Dec. 26, 2022),https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/26/uva-shooting-timeline-what-happened/.
[3] Susan Svrluga & Laura Vozzella, Virginia bills aim to refine how colleges assess threats after U-Va. shooting, Wash. Post (Feb. 17, 2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/17/virginia-college-threat-assessment-uva-shooting/.
[4] Active Attack Prevention and Response Video, https://uvapolice.virginia.edu/active-attack-prevention-and-response-video.