TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Safety and security are being kept top of mind at Pima Community College as the new school year has already begun.
“It is incumbent upon everybody to be our eyes and ears and inform us early so that way we can intervene. Most times there’s leakage whether it’s something that is verbally said to somebody something on social media, prevention and early intervention is what’s critical. We need people willing to forward with that information early," said Michelle Nieuwenhuis, Chief of Police for Pima Community College.
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PCC staff collaborated with the Pima County Police Department over the summer. Employees had trainings on what to do in an active threat situation and went over medical protocols in case of an emergency on campus.
Cameras, door locks on the inside and a push alert text messaging system are all implemented in the safety protocol on campus. A card reader door system and even more active threat trainings are to come this fall for staff at PCC.
The Chief of Police wants to again remind students that it is never too early to tell somebody if you have heard or seen anything online or on campus.
“We’re in the era now where we have to respond to every one of those as if it is a threat and take that action, so yeah I think that it’s definitely a whole different perspective of threat assessment that we probably wouldn’t have anticipated 10 years ago,” said Nieuwenhuis.
Learn more about Pima Community College at the links below.
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Brooke Chau is a reporter for KGUN 9. She was a part of Fresno State's newscast, Fresno State Focus and interned at KFSN-ABC30 in Fresno, CA before coming to KGUN 9. Share your story ideas and important issues with Brooke by emailing brooke.chau@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
