Briefing on Higher Education Campus Safety and Security

On Thursday, July 16th, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network and the network of Governors Education Policy Advisors (GEPA). The briefing highlighted best practices and approaches to public safety at higher education institutions, with a special focus on the safety concerns at campus events and responses to violence or other threats to students, faculty, and staff.

Targeted or violent incident response at postsecondary institutions often involves a nonstandard combination of local, state, and institution-specific resources. Prior relationships and a uniform response protocol are key to providing a swift and effective response. Although proactive or preventative measures can improve campus safety, post-response evaluations are also highly valuable for informing future threat assessments.

Campus safety and security also goes beyond crisis or incident response. Domestic violence, assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence that occur at postsecondary institutions require their own unique and ongoing procedures to address, including Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) processes. Finally, first amendment activity on campus may necessitate the development of tailored response processes so each state and institution can support their student populations and ensure the protection of free speech while also maintaining campus safety.

To discuss this topic, the CJPA briefing featured a presentation by states that have recently experienced security or safety incidents at higher education institutions. State reflected on several policies and practices, including the use of mobile or text message crisis alert systems and the need for colleges and universities to participate in public safety trainings and table top exercises.

NGA holds monthly briefings for Governors' Criminal Justice Policy Advisors. For more information about this or other topics, please reach out to Ken Hardy ([email protected]) and Maria Kearl ([email protected]).