TUCSON, Ariz. — TUCSON, Ariz. -- New security changes are coming to Pima Community College.
Officials said all employees are now required to wear an identification badge on campus. These badges will give them access to buildings and classrooms, but most importantly allow everyone to easily identify employees.
The Pima Community College Police Department is also urging everyone to sign up for emergency text alerts. The PCC Police Commander Michelle Nieuwenhuis says 70,000 people in Tucson are signed up for their email alerts, but only about 9,000 are signed up for the text alerts.
She said the police department believes the low number is due to people not being required to sign up.
"Most people are carrying around there cellphones, but they may not open up an email to see emergency information," Nieuwenhuis said. "If you're really trying to push out emergency information you want to reach as wide an audience as possible."
Nieuwenhuis says officers have responded to emergency situations on campus in the past and have had curious students asking a lot of questions. This makes it harder for the police to do their jobs in that moment.
This is why they're making it a requirement to register your phone number as a new student or employee to make sure everyone gets the emergency information they need.
To sign up for the text alerts:
- using your cellphone text the word alerts to 79516
(ignore any hyphens that your phone might insert in the number)
You will receive a confirmation message. You can text the word STOP to the same number to stop receiving messages. There is no limit in the number of cellphones that you can register to receive messages. Note that certain cellphone providers may charge you a fee for delivery of text messages.
