All buildings are locked down. A public safety officer is posted at every residence hall and apartment complex. Security is increased at Monsanto Hall and research buildings and laboratories across campus.
The terrorism alert level was just bumped from orange to red, by Homeland Security.
The above is a hypothetical scenario that could be placed into effect, along with other measures by the upper administration, if the alert color is changed by the Department of Homeland Security.
Saint Louis University response to a red alert would be based on the nature of the threat, said Department of Public Safety Captain Rick Younger.
Red means that U.S. intelligence is warning that the nation is at “severe risk” of terrorist attack. To reach the highest level of the five-color security system means that an attack is imminent, in process or has just occurred. Yellow indicates a “significant risk” of terrorist attack and orange indicates a “high risk” of attack.
In the event of such a threat, the University and DPS would focus their attention to the residence halls, research centers and areas where chemicals and other agents are stored.
For example, Monsanto Hall, along with the research laboratories on the Health Sciences Campus that hold chemicals and bacteria are currently being watched closely by officers. The security would increase even more drastically in these areas.
In the event of an emergency, the University Emergency Preparedness committee has an emergency response plan that outlines safety procedures for multiple scenarios. The Emergency Preparedness Committee has been working on the University response for some time. The committee has analyzed several worst-case scenarios and has devised a plan for almost any type of disaster from a natural occurrence to terrorism. The University would make a decision on what type of employment measures to activate depending on what the threat involves.
“The Emergency Guide is an excellent tool, as it has directives pertaining to almost every type of emergency,” said Shawn Swinigan, director of Residence Life.
“In the event of an emergency, DPS would be summoned to the area and communication would be established with our University community,” he said.
DPS is part of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force for the city of St. Louis, receiving weekly briefings on the status of the alerts. DPS is in constant communication with the U.S. attorney general’s office and other college campuses throughout the state.
“Typically colleges and universities throughout the United States are viewed as soft targets–Soft targets are those targets that are very unlikely that they would fall victim to a terrorist attack,” Younger said. “A college or university has never been victim to an attack of terrorism.”
All indications at this time are that the level will not be raised in the immediate future; however, this is subject to analysis of the threats by Homeland Security.
