UM Decides It Can’t Regularly “Lockdown” Thousands of Adults

The following popped up when I logged into UM’s employee website yesterday:

Members of the University community are asked to read these important new safety guidelines.

As part of efforts to help ensure the safety of the UM community, the University has adopted a new protection strategy for on-campus incidents with the potential for loss of life or bodily harm. After extensive research among peer institutions, the
University of Miami Police Department has recommended a “STAY in Place” approach as the best safety practice, as opposed to a campus-wide lockdown.

The key components of the STAY strategy are:

S: Secure your area, lock doors and windows, close blinds, prevent suspect from accessing victims.

T: Take cover, hide, stay out of sight.

A: Advise others so that they can take steps to protect themselves; await further information.

Y: You must take measures to protect your safety. Police will be busy with the actual response to the incident and will not be able to direct your personal actions unless you are actively involved.

Under the STAY strategy, all buildings and organizational units would use existing emergency plans and, at their discretion, allow others to access their facilities to seek shelter. It is expected that a large number of people would seek shelter-in-place in classrooms and major buildings on the campuses. Any decision to lock down buildings would be made on an individual and localized basis within the framework of managing the overall incident. There are special situations, such as clinical care facilities on the medical campus, for which lockdown would remain a clearly defined strategy that can work in conjunction with STAY guidelines.

Individuals who are outdoors on campus in an emergency situation need to make the best personal safety decision they can based on common sense, situational awareness, immediacy of the threat, and availability of nearby facilities that may
provide shelter-in-place options.

Translated into English, I think this means I, other faculty and staff, and all the graduate and undergraduate students (almost all of whom are also adults), are on our own in an emergency, but at least the cops won’t be distracted by trying to shoot me if I don’t stay under my desk. Given that they push the emergency button fairly often, I think I’m just fine with that.

I do find it a little ominous how the phrase “lockdown” has migrated from prisons to K-12 and is now it seems common parlance for treatment of staff and students in universities. I guess neighborhoods are next.