Officers Lucy Neyens, left, and Roy Shipp, right, are available to speak on campus safety and crime-prevention. Contact the ACC Police Department for details.

Like many colleges throughout the nation, the Austin Community College District is enhancing its emergency preparedness to provide for the safety of faculty, staff, and students.

Most visible are new electronic emergency messaging boards and public-address speakers that have been installed in classrooms, common areas, and parking lots as part of a new emergency mass notification system. The boards and speakers, which provide critical messages in the event of an emergency, are the latest addition to the college’s Crisis Management Plan.

Other initiatives include:

• Emergency mass notification capability via email, voice mail, and text messaging;
• Emergency call boxes in parking areas;
• Improved communication systems for emergency management team members;
• Revised emergency instructions posted online and in classrooms; and
• Automatic external defibrillators for campuses and police vehicles.

A collegewide committee headed by Environmental Health, Safety, and Insurance Director Rebecca Cole upgraded the Crisis Management Plan over two years. Some initiatives are still in development, including email, voice mail, and text messaging, and campus call box installations. Staff training will take place over the next several months.

Once complete, many of ACC’s emergency communications will overlap, Cole notes. “The most important thing is to have several systems in place so you don’t rely on any one system to help ensure everyone’s safety.”

The ACC Police Department (ACC PD) is a critical component of the safety plan. ACC PD consists of 52 commissioned police officers and 10 civilians. It operates 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with police officers on patrol at all times. ACC PD maintains a 24-hour emergency dispatch system to monitor fire and intrusion alarms and to dispatch officers to calls for service. In addition, membership in the Austin Regional Radio System gives ACC PD the ability to communicate with area emergency responders.

“ACC PD strives at all times to be visible, accessible, responsive, and accountable to further the goals of safety and security that we share with all persons associated with ACC,” says ACC Police Chief Frankie Waller. “In this same context, the culture of the ACC PD is consistently focused on user-friendly community service to all persons.”

Both Waller’s and Cole’s offices regularly provide seminars and training for ACC employees and students. They will also continue to evaluate the emergency management plan to ensure ACC’s approach to emergency planning and response is comprehensive and continuously improving.

“Though no institution is invulnerable to safety threats, our emergency management plan strives to make us as prepared and responsive as possible,” Cole says.

To report suspicious activity or an emergency situation, please call 222 from any campus phone or 223.7999 from any outside line or personal cell phone.