UC Davis is readying itself to respond to an emergency and asking members of the campus community to take certain precautions while the country is on orange alert or at high risk for terrorist attacks.
The UC Davis Police Department issued a bulletin with safety tips for the campus last Thursday. And a week ago today, campus leaders charged with coordinating the response to a campus emergency were asked to begin making daily reports regarding each area’s ability to respond to a campus emergency.
Police Capt. Rita Spaur, who is responsible for managing the activities of the campus’s emergency response structure, has asked the emergency leaders to share information regarding the campus environment, their staffing levels and other factors influencing their response capability.
"Although we have no specific threats toward our campus at this time," Spaur wrote to the emergency response leaders, "our community expects us to be prepared and to quickly respond in order to manage an incident that may threaten our campus."
The campus actions come after FBI Director Robert Mueller told the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week that Al Qaeda is looking at colleges and other poorly defended locations as possible targets for terrorist attacks.
The California Department of Justice also has identified universities and major hospitals as potential targets for terrorism.
On Feb. 7, the Department of Homeland Security raised the nation’s color-coded terror alert from yellow to orange – the second-highest level.
The police department, Spaur said, is in daily contact with the California Anti-Terrorism Center, FBI and other law enforcement agencies to collect information on any potential threats to UC Davis.
At Spaur’s request, the campus activated its Emergency Operations Center for the first time – other than for training exercises – since the campus adopted its emergency plan in late 1998.
Although the current low-level status does not require em-ergency officials to assemble, Spaur said, it does mean that they will be continually communicating, evaluating the campus environment and assessing the ability to fully activate the emergency structure.
With the police and fire departments, the structure incorporates staff from a variety of campus units–including the Office of Resource Management and Planning, Public Communications, Environmental Health and Safety, Communication Resources, and Facilities–into teams with responsibility for on-scene response operations, planning and intelligence, logistics, administrative services, and public information. The team leaders are making the daily reports to Spaur.
Meanwhile, the police department advises members of the campus community to:
• take personal security precautions;
• continue with normal activities and be patient with security checks at events in large facilities;
• monitor current events;
• avoid leaving items such as backpacks unattended in public places; and
• review their departmental emergency plans and be familiar with their building evacuation plans.
"We’re asking employees, students and visitors to remain vigilant and to be aware of their surroundings," Spaur said, adding that patrol officers are on heightened alert.
Safety information
Spaur said that all suspicious persons, activities and packages should be reported immediately to police. Individuals reporting crimes in progress should call 911; cell phone users should call (530) 752-1230 on the main campus and (916) 734-2555 at the UC Davis Medical Center.
The police department’s bulletin and other safety tips are available for viewing at http://police.ucdavis.edu/. To learn more about the campus emergency plan or resources for preparing for an emergency, visit http://planit.ucdavis.edu/.