Section 5: Emergency Response, Evacuation, and Emergency Notification ad Timey Warning Procedures

Policy Statement:

To ensure that all members of the campus community are aware of any issues or hazards that may pose a risk to their safety and security, Northeastern Junior College will notify the campus communities through the use of various means, but primarily through the use of the Emergency Notification System (ENS). Such messaging will generally fall under the category of one of these two Clery definitions, an “Emergency Notification” or a “Timely Warning.” When transmitted via the Emergency Notification System, these messages will be sent in the form of an alert phone call, text messages and/or email, and therefore broadcast to the entire campus communities of both the main Sterling Campus and the satellite Yuma campus. As such, a message may be relevant to both locations, or state that the information is specific to one of the locations. Timely Warning messaging may also be segmented to specific locations, depending on the nature of the incident and the required audience, such as all students vs. residential students, etc.

An Emergency Notification will be sent immediately, in the event of and on confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees, such as an Active Threat, a Hazardous Materials Incident, or hazardous weather events such as a Severe Thunderstorm Warning or a Tornado Warning. Other messages such as closings for severe weather will also be sent via the Emergency Notification System. The message will be distinguished in the transmission as to the type of event, such as Security (Lockdown, Bomb Threat, etc.), Meteorological (Tornado, Blizzard, Late Opening), and so forth. These messages may be from a preformed template, or manually entered with specific details, and will be sent to the entire campus community.

As required by the Clery Act of 1998, and in accordance with the Violence Against Women’s Act of 1994 : The purpose of a Timely Warning notification is to inform the campus community of what is reported to a Campus Security Authority (CSA) or to a local law enforcement agency, to be a Clery Act crime that has already occurred within the parameters of what is defined as the Clery Act Geography of Northeastern Junior College, but continues to represent the possibility of a serious or continuing risk or threat of danger to the students and employees (i.e. a rash of a specific type of crime, or an unidentified assailant). Such a warning will be issued on a case by case basis, and as soon as the pertinent information is available. Once the proper information is received and a threat is determined, the Timely Warning message is created. It will include information on the incident that triggered the warning, and methods to help prevent similar crimes in the future, however it will not include details such as specific victim’s names or locations such as room numbers. It may likely include information such as a suspect description, such as clothing, gender, race, height, body type and build, hair color, if there is facial hair, tattoos, etc., but only as sufficient information is available. A Timely Warning may be transmitted to the whole campus, or segmented to a specific audience, depending on the nature of the incident. The intent of a Timely Warning is not only to warn of possible threats, but to help aid in the prevention of future crimes.

PROCEDURE

College Responsibilities:

When notified of an incident that is deemed to have occurred on campus Clery Geography, or on public properties that are contiguous to the campus, or in the nearby community, which may pose a serious and/or ongoing threat the health, safety and security of the campus, the administration will, without delay, and considering the safety of the community:

Evaluate the available information from all available resources (visually confirmed, or notified by emergency services, etc.) in order to confirm the type of emergency, whether it is (a) a significant emergency or dangerous situation occurring on the campus involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees, or (b) a Clery Act crime that has already occurred within the parameters of what is defined as the Clery Act Geography of Northeastern Junior College, but continues to represent the possibility of a serious or continuing risk or threat of danger to the students and employees (i.e. a rash of a specific type of crime, or an unidentified assailant).
and determine how and who (all of campus, or a segment of campus, depending on the information received, and based on the Clery Act protocols) to notify, in order to decide how to address the issue.
Determine whether to utilize a preformed template, or to manually create specific messaging, depending on the available information, and considering the type of incident.
Initiate the notification, either a mass notification via the Emergency Notification System, or to segment the notification via direct email, or posting at specific locations, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgement of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency.
Any one of the following individuals, primarily the Vice President for Student Services, the Coordinator of Campus Safety & Security, and the Director of Resident Life, may individually or in concert, decide if and how it may be necessary to notify the campus. Other members of the administration, such as the president, or even some members of the Campus Safety and Security Committee, may also be involved, or initiate such notifications.
Dissemination of such emergency information to the public and the larger community will be attained via the following means: (a) public access to the Emergency Notification App (NJC Alert, publicly available in the Apple App Store, or the Android Google Play Store), and (b) the Communications Liaison Officer will utilize Social Media and communicate with the media.
The college tests the emergency response and evacuation procedures in the following ways. At least once a year during the summer months a test of the Emergency Notification System is run and documented. There are also scheduled and announced fire evacuation drills once each semester for all residence halls where the fire department is notified and when possible assist. The emergency evacuation procedures are also posted at each hall and each room receives information on emergency events and procedures. Other table top drills and training sessions are held for key players and/or the campus community join and to learn from.

Campus Community Responsibilities:

Always call 911 to report any serious emergencies or crimes which are ongoing and which may pose an immediate threat to life and safety.
Students, employees and visitors should immediately report information regarding emergencies or crimes committed on campus, or at official college events which occur off campus, to a Campus Security Authority, such as an Athletic Coach, to Resident Life staff, to a faculty or staff club sponsor, or directly contact the Coordinator of Campus Safety & Security, or the Vice President of Student Services. Reporting these incidents through these channels are also important in order to accurately record and report statistics, so after an incident has been reported, please take the time to enter a written report of the incident through the on-line report system, which is at the bottom of the main page of the website, under “Tools,” and choose “Report a Concern.” Remember to enter the specific elements of “who, what, when, where, how and why” into your narrative.
Your registered primary contact phone number will receive messaging that is deemed necessary to transmit to the whole campus community. Please be sure to check that information through your “Access” portal to make sure that your information is correct.
We also highly suggest that you download the “NJC Alert” app, which you may find in either the Google Play Store or the App Store. The Alert app is used to send updates in the form of “Push Notifications,” which will advise or update you with important information during and after an incident. There are also a number of safety and security resources available in the app, such as weather updates, and other emergency information, so please utilize this resource.