Sac State’s 2019 safety plan promises more locks, more lights and ‘large scale’ drill
A university that campus police say had more than 170 reported cases of theft in 2017 plans to introduce new higher-tech locks to its classroom doors over the next two years.
Sacramento State’s annual campus safety plan for 2019, posted by the university’s police department at the end of 2018, outlines planned changes in safety protocols over the next 24 months.
The four safety measures mentioned are: a continued effort to replace existing classroom locks, which “will allow for quicker lock down,” repair or replacement of the campus’s 200 emergency blue-light phones, enhanced lighting along walkways and building exteriors, and a “large scale exercise” to prepare for emergency situations.
The campus report says that in the preceding 18 months, Sacramento State tested and installed electronic locks at one of the university’s lecture halls. The report says these locks “are capable of being locked from within, electronically, or with a fob/key.” The safety plan indicates the university is working to install this same system at all lecture halls on campus.
Other recent safety measures at Sacramento State include online active-shooter training and testing of alarm systems, the report says.
“The Police Department hosts a regional table-top exercise each year to test the response of campus departments and allied agencies on a variety of scenarios, including Hazardous Materials Spill, Flood, Fire, Active Shooter, and Pandemic Virus,” the report says. “Furthermore, Building Evacuation Drills are required annually for each campus building.”
The plan also lists crime statistics at the university for 2017, using definitions from the FBI Uniform Reporting program. These statistics include 171 reported instances of theft, 35 destruction of property incidents and two violent crimes (one rape and one robbery).
