Campus Safety Establishes A.L.I.C.E.

Campus Safety Services has made significant updates to its pro- gram this past year, enhancing the safety and protecting the Exeter com- munity, especially during a time in which many are traumatized by the Boston bombings and the shooting incident at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.“Our overarching goal is to help create a safe environment for the Aca- demic community so that students can concentrate on the pursuit of academic excellence,” Director of Campus Safety Jeff Nelson said.This year the main project of Campus Safety, to better fulfill its commitment to provide a safe learning environment at Exeter, has been com- pleting the Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate (A.L.I.C.E) program and training students, faculty and staff in it.“We believe A.L.I.C.E. empow- ers students, faculty and staff by offer- ing additional options if our campus was to experience an active shooter situation. While active shooter situa- tions are rare, we want to ensure we

are as prepared as possible,” Nelson said. “A.L.I.C.E. training is designed to expand on traditional lockdown procedures by offering students, fac- ulty and staff alternatives during an active shooter situation.”A.L.I.C.E was created specifi- cally to address the time between the first act of violence and the police response, according to Nelson. “Dur- ing those initial 10 to 15 minutes, A.L.I.C.E. empowers students, facultyand staff to barricade, evacuate when safe to do so and/or counter when there are no other options,” he said.

Students appreciated Campus Safety’s efforts to train the Academy community in A.L.I.C.E. “I think the community really needed the training in light of all the things that have been happening outside of Exeter,” senior Miki Takeshita said. “You really never know what might happen, so Campus Safety’s presence and what they teach is extremely crucial.”Lower Margaret Cohen agreed. “[A.L.I.C.E training] is effective and a great thing to do in the case that worst comes to worst. It’s a good skill to have in our back pocket, and Campus Safety does a good job of making sure we know what to do,” she said.

Additionally, Campus Safety has established a more consistent presence atAssembly and athletic events, added a new Network Video Recorder to dispatch, worked with consultants on security risk assessments of the athletic complex and library and conducted monthly inspections of over 600 fire extinguishers. BetweenSeptember 1, 2012, and May 1, 2013, Campus Safety Services has handled 6,375 calls for service.

In addition to the Safety and Operations areas of Campus Safety Services, the Environmental Compliance area of Campus Safety ensures the Academy’s compliance with federal, state and local environmental statutes and regulations.“We are responsible for managing all of the chemical waste, composting, trash and recycling, shredding and oil management,” Safety and Environmental Compliance Manager Tegan Vassillion said.“We are responsible for many annual requirements including hazardous waste tracking, annual air emission calculations and waste water permitting. Environmental Compliance also investigates any concerns of indoor air quality, mold and other environmental concerns.”Vassillion claimed that Campus Safety sought to improve the environmental aspects of the Academy in various ways, often working with students and faculty. “Collaborating with our stewardship manager and the students’ Environmental Action Committee, we completed and won the Green Ribbon award, which honors schools for ‘green’ practices and initiatives,” Vassillion said.“Environmental Compliance has also been working closely with state and local officials to permanently close the last of our underground storage tanks for heating oil.”Students praised the overall works of Campus Safety to enhance the safety of theAcademyanditscommunity. “CampusSafetydoesmorebehindthescenes than we give them credit for,” upper Nina Meyers said.“An officer once told me that all the safety officers are here for the kids. It’s really important that they really care about us and keeping us safe, even if we don’t always see it.”Nelson emphasized the importance of the safety of students, faculty and staff. “Unfortunately,weliveinatimewhereonehastobeconstantlyawareof potential threats in any public setting,” he said.

“In Campus Safety Services, we continue to be as vigilant as possible to help protect students, faculty and staff.”