Recently, there has been a

growing amount of active shooters

on school campuses, but are

people aware about how to defend

themselves?

EC’s Chief of Police Michael

Trevis conducted a workshop

called Active Shooter Workshop

to give students advice and safety

tips on what to do if students find

themselves in such a situation.

It is important to inform students

on “how to basically be

safe” in these types of situations

and the best way to do that is by

“knowledge and education,” Trevis

said.

In a worst-case scenario, students

should run.

“Get out of the situation and at

the same time call for help if possible,”

Trevis added.

Trevis advises that if calling

the police while trying to get

away is possible, a student must

do so in order to let the police

know what the situation is and

how they can help as quickly as

possible.

“Officers here have received a

lot of training and are quite capable

of dealing with any type of

situation,” Trevis said.

If getting away from the harmful

situation isn’t an option, Trevis

said the students are advised

to shelter in place, turn off the

lights and block the doors or any

entrance with furniture, if any.

If a student finds him or herself

in a situation in which they

cannot shelter themselves, Trevis

advises that the student defend

themselves.

“Find a way to protect yourself

and the life of others,” Trevis

said.

Trevis’ biggest concern is that

students are not aware of their

surroundings because they are

constantly on their cell phones,

whether it be while walking and

talking or texting.

“Always be aware of your surroundings,

wherever you are, not

just on campus,” Trevis said.

If there is ever any danger on

campus, there are blue telephone

poles that link directly to the EC

police dispatch.

According to the EC police

website, elcamino.edu/police,

“the phones are equipped with

information buttons that will dial

the police department’s regular

non-emergency business number,”

or if there is any emergency

situation, there is a red button

that links directly to the EC Police

Communications Center automatically

identifying your location

to the police.

Many students agree that this

workshop was necessary, not only

to inform students of how to react

when confronted with such harmful

situations, but also in light of

recent active shooter incidents.

It is imperative that students

have some prior protocol training.

“Any kind of safety awareness

is important because as college

students, we’re out there in

the open on campus and knowing

how to defend ourselves is useful,”

Faizan Mehmood, 19, business

major, said.

Students and officials both

agree that being informed and

vigilant is key in preventing or

dealing with incidents like the

ones that have been plaguing the

country.

“It is important because we

are on campus where we cannot

control our safety, whereas

we could try to control some of

our safety at home,” Emma Robertson,

19, English major, said.

“General awareness is absolutely

necessary.”