LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — An independent review of Michigan State University’s response to the Feb. 13 mass shooting has been made public by the school’s interim president.
The report was created by Security Risk Management Consultants (SRMC). It lays out findings and recommendations to “strengthen campus safety and security” and offers ways to improve future emergency responses.
“This report is a critical next step in our ongoing commitment to ensuring MSU is a safe place for all who come to our campus,” said MSU Interim President Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. “It provides concrete recommendations for strengthening campus safety and reinforces our efforts are on the right track.”
The report details recommendations for 14 areas:
- Public safety department policies and procedures
- Planning and preparation
- Officer safety and equipment
- Leadership coordination and collaboration
- Command and control
- Internal communications, situational awareness and intelligence
- External communications, public relations and traditional and social media
- Interagency memorandums of understanding, support agreements and practices
- Emergency medical and psychological care
- First responder wellness and mental health
- Victim and witness support
- Community relations, partnerships and resilience
- Institutional continuity and recovery efforts
- Campus technology evaluation
According to MSU, some of the recommendations are already in place and others are currently being considered.
Improvements include “making improvements to the university’s Family Assistance Center processes and plans, expanding and centralizing the university’s security cameras on campus, implementing a centralized security operations center, upgrading electronic building access and updating door locks on campus.”
“SRMC highlights equally the complexities of such a tragic event on our campus along with the incredible dedication and response by our first responders and staff,” Woodruff added. “I want to again thank each and every one of them for their swift action and care in the immediate hours following the violence, and their ongoing support in the weeks and months that have followed. At the same time, we continue to keep in our hearts the students we lost that night, those injured, the families, and members of our community who were impacted.”
