Following the recent shooting that occurred at the intersection of Angela Boulevard and Michigan Avenue on Jan. 11, Saint Mary's Campus Safety department did not send out an alert to students.
Phil Bambenek, director of campus safety at Saint Mary's, explained his office’s decision not to communicate with students about the incident, which left one South Bend resident dead. He said it was determined that students were not in need of either type of alert the office sends out; a campus crime alert or a timely warning.
Crime alerts warn students of situations which they need to be aware of for their immediate safety. Timely warnings notify students of a situation which has already been resolved but which Campus Safety determines occurred in a location students frequent and therefore requires students to exercise caution. Bambenek said these notifications are the primary way that the College’s safety department communicates information and updates either in the midst of or following a dangerous situation, serving both students and staff.
The decision to refrain from notifying students was not made to keep students in the dark, but rather, Bambenek explained, because the shooting did not pose an immediate or long-term threat to Saint Mary's students.
“In looking at that situation, we determined, one, that there was probably no further threat to students at that point in time, and, is it really something that putting out a timely warning [would] in some way enhance the safety of the community?” Bambenek said, “And in that case, we looked at it and said, one, the event really didn't even start near where it ended. It probably didn't have a significant impact on our community ... it's not an area where a lot of students congregate or anything like that. So, we determined at that point in time that it really wasn't necessary to issue a timely warning on that.”
The shooting’s location was just south of the tri-campus area. Michigan Street separates the campuses of Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross College from Notre Dame.
Bambenek said he works closely with his team and the safety departments at the University of Notre Dame and Holy Cross College to ensure the safety of all students.
According to Bambenek, almost all students are on the text alert system. For many students, the communication system is how they remain alert about any dangerous situations that might occur.
There is another factor that influences if and when Campus Safety decides to issue an alert about a situation — if Saint Mary's students have the potential to learn more about how to stay safe on campus. Bambenek said this factors into why students might receive messaging about certain incidents and not others, and it is why Saint Mary's students were alerted about the shootings that occurred at Eddy Street Commons earlier this school year but not the shooting on the eleventh.
“If there's gunfire near where you are, take shelter,” Bambenek said, explaining how a timely warning could be used as an educational opportunity in the case of the shootings on Eddy Street Commons. “If somebody is driving down the street exchanging gunfire, there's not a lot of education I can do about that other than you get out of the way. So that's kind of the thought about that.”
The communication systems work in a variety of ways in hopes of reaching as many students and faculty as possible. In the case of a campus crime alert, students receive emails and/or texts from campus safety officers, and they can view posts on social media that communicate the threat. Campus Safety also has the ability to send messages directly to computers in classrooms. Bambenek shared that Campus Safety is always working to improve communication with students to create prudent and effective alerts.
“I think they do a pretty good job of telling us on campus things.” sophomore Meredith Downs said. “I don't think it would be a bad idea if they sent us notifications about, like, things going on in South Bend.”
Caitlin Jaskolski, said she appreciated the types of alerts that Campus Safety sends out. “I feel like they communicate very well, and they send out all the information to us and make sure we're aware of what's going on, which I appreciate,” Jaskolski said.
Bambenek said Campus Safety is always looking for ways to improve response to emergencies following incidents. “We do a debrief after every incident, and the three questions I ask [my team] to consider anytime anything happens is what went well, what could we have done better and is there a change in the process we need to make in order to better serve the community if this happens again?” Bambenek explained.
Bambenek encouraged students at the College to download the SMC Safe app, which he explained is the easiest way to maintain communication, stay up to date on emergency procedures, get help in an emergency or report any situation on campus.
