Seeking Safety in Perilous Times

Scrolling through Twitter early on Sunday morning I find a tweet from DC police about an armed carjacking at 8 am at the intersection of North Capitol and Michigan Avenue.

Alert: Armed Carjacking at North Capitol & Michigan Ave NE. L/O for (2) B/M's; early 20s; armed w/ handguns; wearing Blk clothing, and ski mask. Taken was a Blk BMW MD Tag 8DY3292. Last seen traveling SB on North Capitol St NE.

DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/ EVENT # I20230196982

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) April 16, 2023

Sunday!  8 am!  People on their way to church and family gatherings… no time, no place, no day is safe in these perilous times.  Street crime has been on the rise in DC for months.  Metropolitan Police have hundreds of vacancies as scores of officers quit each month and not enough recruits sign-up.  Mayor Bowser and Chief Contee will soon testify before Congress (House Committee on Oversight and Government Accountability) about the myriad problems that contribute to crime in the city.  But no amount of earnest pledges by local officials or grandstanding by Congressional overseers will stanch the flow of criminal activity and sheer misery for thousands of local residents.

Crime is hardly just a DC problem.  American society is saturated with guns and grievances.  Violence is overwhelming communities and cities across the nation.  Even as I write, there’s news of more mass shootings, another one in Louisville and one in Alabama.  But the National Rifle Association went on with its convention last week, and prominent politicians gladly mounted that dais to proclaim their affection for guns (and, by extension, the money of the gun lobby).  These same politicos, by the way, claim “pro-life” credentials even as the bloody tide of gun violence grows larger each day.  Political hypocrisy also feeds the sense of hopelessness that engenders violent choices among people who feel there is no hope for them.  (And the “pro-life” politicians who call for rapid executions of those who commit murders with guns don’t seem to understand that the criminals really don’t care, execution is not a deterrent among those who feel they have nothing to lose in this society.  Those same politicians refuse to do anything about the high tide of weaponry drowning America.)

Everyone is on edge.  Last Thursday at Trinity, we experienced the particular horror of a vague report of an active shooter, a report that was false, that turned out to be a total hoax perpetrated across the country.  Catholic University had the same experience, as did schools, colleges and universities in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Colorado, New York and other states.  These incidents of hoax calls are called “swatting” — someone places a false call of a bomb threat or active shooter to the police in order to provoke the police to respond with their SWAT units.  “SWAT” stands for “special weapons and tactics” and police in those units have special training to respond to dangerous emergencies.

Trinity Security received a call from MPD around 9:50 am saying that someone (a male person who gave a name) called MPD 911 with a threat of an active shooter “in a computer lab” identified as “Room 218” — Trinity has no computer labs in any “Room 218” but we have to take every threat seriously.  The caller did not name Trinity but did give our street address.  Later on we learned that a similar call also targeted Catholic University at the same time.  MPD arrived quickly and instructed us to issue the lockdown alert, which we did on the text message system.  A SWAT team went into the library since we have a computer lab there.  Several other police officers went into Main Hall to check the computer labs here.  The entire incident took about ten minutes and the police told us to issue the “all clear” notice.

At no time was there any actual threat or danger on campus.  But we do have to take every report very seriously.  I know that getting an alert about a lockdown is upsetting — all of us share that feeling.  It is a terrible statement about the times in which we live that someone somewhere — some reports say these swatting incidents come from an international location —  someone gets off on terrifying other people.  Emotional terror is another weapon of a violent society.

I appreciate everyone’s cooperation and the professional guidance of Trinity Security Chief Andrea Glascoe and Vice President for Student Affairs Karen Gerlach who were promptly on the scene and working with the police.

I am also grateful for the various comments, suggestions and insights that I received from members of the Trinity community after this incident.  Trinity is a very safe campus but we can always improve.   Security is everyone’s business and we need your cooperation to maintain a high level of safety.  Even as we continue to evaluate the incident and talk with the police about next steps, we ask that you adopt these practices as well:

1.  Situational Awareness:  be aware of what’s going on in every space where you are — if you are in a classroom, know the room number and building name; same if you are in an office or other location indoors.  Accuracy of reporting locations is key to the speed of emergency response.  Also, know where the nearest fire exits are.
2. Doors and locks:  we have received some complaints that some locks do not work from the inside.  Please check the doors and locks of the rooms where you are and let us know if we need to repair a lock.
3. Emergency Communications:  we use a text message system for alerts.  Text one word:  trinitydcalerts to this number:  866-925-2949
   
4. What to do when you get an emergency alert: the alert will give you basic instructions.  If the alert says “lockdown, stay where you are” it means exactly that.  At other times, the instruction might be to evacuate, and that would normally include an instruction about where to go once outside.  Every incident is different.  In the incident last Thursday, we were dependent upon the instructions of the police, and that is often the case.  We are aware that the alerts cause anxiety but it’s important to stick to the process as much as possible.
5. If you are outdoors, as some students were last Thursday, the best thing to do is to stay outside but move to a sheltered location, e.g., near a building or other location that offers some shelter.
6. Once we sent out emergency alerts, we also use email for longer instructions and information since text messages are limited.  We also use email for all those affected to let us know where you are and if you need help.  We have an emergency mailbox for this purpose emergency@trinitydc.edu
7. Some comments after the incident complained that we seem to be lax about requiring everyone to show ID when coming onto campus and into buildings.  We can try again to have the ID protocol, but we also need everyone’s cooperation with the practice.  Too often, our Security personnel get angry and disrespectful comments when they ask for ID.  They are on the front lines for us and they deserve respect and cooperation.
8. Some comments indicated a concern about security overall.  In fact, Trinity has an excellent campus safety track record — but I surely know that we are only as safe as the next event, not the last one.  Our personnel get regular training and we have the resources of Allied Universal backing them up.  We also have a very extensive system of cameras on campus and we do maintain constant surveillance even when you may not see a guard in the booth.  We spend about $1.5 million on security services each year, a very large amount given the size of Trinity, but worth every penny.  We will be adding more cameras this summer and reviewing additional steps we can take to be sure that we maintain an excellent campus safety track record.
9. Please let us know whenever you see anything that appears to be a security problem — a suspicious person, or someone not paying attention, or something else.  Better to report than to remain quiet.  “See something, say something” is exactly right!
10. We are also in dialogue with Catholic University and the MPD about how we can improve safety and security along the entire Michigan Avenue corridor.

I do appreciate everyone’s comments, and please know that our executive team and I spend a great deal of time on security matters.  I also appreciate the many students, faculty and staff who are actively engaged in advocacy to promote an end to gun violence.  Ultimately, we must be on the front lines of insisting that this society find a way to reduce the violence and increase the opportunities to enjoy the kind of “life, liberty and happiness” that we all have a right to experience.