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Safety First, Safety Always
 The purpose of this Web page is to provide members of the CUA community (students, faculty, staff, parents of students and alumni) with timely information on campus crime prevention and emergency procedures. This page is designed to be not only informative, but also instructive, e.g., educating the university community on how to respond in the event of a public safety and/or public health emergency. Breaking news on public health and public safety will be posted in a “What’s New” box that will appear near the top of this page on an as-needed basis. |
How We Manage Emergencies
Alert DC
Crime Prevention:
Environmental Safety Alerts
Links:
News Archive:
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09-04-08 Metropolitan Police Checks Out Bomb Threat at Shrine
Earlier this evening CUA's Department of Public Safety received a phone call from an individual claiming to have placed a bomb in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. DPS notified public safety officers at the National Shrine, who in turn notified the Metropolitan Police Department. MPD dispatched officers to check out the Shrine. At approximately 10:20 p.m. MPD completed its sweep of the National Shrine and confirmed that the bomb threat was a hoax.
At around the same time as the bomb threat was being investigated, a power outage in parts of Washington also temporarily affected portions of campus. The outage was unrelated to the bomb threat and the subsequent investigation of it.
Office of Public Affairs
Posted 11:08 p.m.
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09-04-08 Tropical Storm Hanna
As of this afternoon, forecasters predict that Tropical Storm Hanna may strengthen into a minimal hurricane as it continues toward the southeastern coast, making landfall on Saturday morning in the Carolinas. Depending upon the ultimate track of the storm, there is some potential for severe weather (heavy rains and strong wind gusts) in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on Saturday. It is also possible that Hanna could simply produce some minor showers if it tracks further to our east. The university continues to actively monitor the storm and will implement additional precautions should the forecast suggest a significant weather event for our area. Students are encouraged to check the Safety First, Safety Always Web site and your CUA e-mail account for updates in the event that additional precautions are necessary.
Jonathan C. Sawyer
Associate Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Posted 04:10 p.m.
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08-25-08 Incident at Spellman Hall
At approximately 7:20 p.m. this evening, some students in Spellman Hall noticed a suspicious smell in the first floor stairwell. It occasioned students’ coughing and gagging as they inhaled the fumes in the stairwell. The students immediately reported the smell to the Public Safety Associate stationed at the desk. She, in turn, contacted the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and was told to pull the fire alarm to evacuate the building. DPS commanders and officers reported to the scene immediately and within minutes the DC Fire Department (DCFD) was also on the scene with battalion commanders, fire and other emergency personnel. Staff members from CUA’s Office of Housing and Residential Life were also present to account for evacuated student residents from Spellman. In addition, the President; Luke Alar, Director of Environmental Safety; and the Chaplain came to Spellman. DCFD entered the building with equipment and determined that there was nothing threatening to the health and safety of students. The fumes disappeared quickly. Luke Alar, DPS Officer Lt. Carr, Father O’Connell and other DPS and housing staff walked the five stories of the building's stairwell and through the corridors. By 8:00 p.m., the situation was deemed by DCFD officials as “under control” and not dangerous. As a precaution, students were asked to wait outside for a period of time until a final clearance was given.
DCFD and DPS believe the fumes were the result of a “prank” and indicated that they were caused by a small canister of pepper spray or mace opened in the stairwell, judging from the odor. No students or staff were hurt in the incident and no one required any medical treatment.
Office of Public Affairs
Posted 08:48 p.m.
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08-20-08 Public Safety Continues to Enhance Campus Security
Some might think that summer would be a slow season for CUA’s Department of Public Safety since most students aren’t on campus then, but au contraire. The department’s staff has been working throughout the summer to install new security systems and devices in preparation for the return of students.
The installation of a public-address alert system in 23 key locations throughout campus is nearly complete. It should be finalized by mid-September, at which time public safety plans to test the system with the campus community present. The loudspeaker alerts will consist of brief messages communicating an emergency or present danger on campus. Catholic University will be the first university in the District of Columbia to employ this kind of outdoor announcement system.
Thomasine Johnson, director of public safety, emphasizes that the all-campus public address is not replacing the university’s use of the DC Alert text messaging system or any of its other emergency notification methods; it is a redundancy being put into place to ensure that emergency messages are disseminated as widely and rapidly as possible throughout the community. Other systems in place to communicate emergencies include fire alarms; announcements sent over e-mail and voicemail; alert messages on the CUA Web page (www.cua.edu) and the Safety First Web page (http://www.cua.edu/safety); public announcements broadcast from public safety vehicles; and verbal announcements made by foot patrol officers and each university building’s watch captains, area captains, resident assistants and area coordinators.
In addition, technology has been acquired this summer to deliver emergency alerts through the campus’ cable television service. Later this year the university will be able to interrupt all programs on all channels to issue a message to the university in cases of emergency.
Last year, cameras were installed around campus, enabling the public safety office to monitor outdoor activity on closed-circuit television 24 hours a day. Five new cameras were installed recently to monitor key spots such as the McMahon Hall parking lot and a vehicular entrance to campus that didn’t previously have a camera.
Several new outdoor emergency phones were also installed over the summer and some of the older phones were replaced. Two of the newest phone stanchions, which include the public-address alert capability, were installed near the athletic fields of the Raymond A. DuFour Center. They are the emergency phones located farthest from the Department of Public Safety headquarters. There are now more than 120 emergency phones on CUA’s campus.
The Department of Public Safety has recently opened a backup “nerve center,” complete with closed-circuit camera surveillance screens, in the Columbus School of Law on the east side of campus. This location will enable the entire safety operation to relocate if the main nerve center on the west side of campus is rendered inoperable in an emergency situation.
Aside from bringing in new technology to help keep students safe, public safety is also working with students to make them more aware of how to stay safe. Crime prevention programs will be conducted in the residence halls.
The number of instructors in the popular RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) program has increased from two to five this year. The purpose of the class is to teach females viable self-defense options so they can escape attack situations. (A program schedule will be posted at http://publicsafety.cua.edu/RADTraining.cfm by September.)
The university also has worked to make the process of arriving at CUA smoother for incoming freshmen. Since the university has been expecting its largest freshman class ever, long lines were foreseen for students picking up their university IDs. Teaming up with CUA’s Center for Planning and Information Technology, the Department of Public Safety created a secure program through which students could upload a photo of themselves so that their IDs could be created ahead of time and be ready for them when they arrived on campus. At least 40 percent of new freshmen, transfer students and law students chose to take advantage of this opportunity.
To assist in day-to-day operations, last March the Department of Public Safety hired Cheryl Pendergast as associate director, a new position that works with the department’s administrative services and with its patrol officers.
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