As reported in The Hawk in this week’s issue in “City Avenue shooting raises concern for university safety alert response time,” on April 14, around 10:45 p.m., a man was shot on City Avenue just outside of Villiger Hall, a first-year residence hall. The St. Joe’s community was informed of the incident at 1 a.m. via an SJU Safe Alert, issued by the Office of Public Safety & Security.
A follow-up message was sent out the next day at 1:45 p.m. to the university community by David Finnie, assistant vice president of Public Safety. This follow-up intended to provide “additional details” of the incident, but was merely a recap of what the original notification established and, additionally, did not further explain what had happened the night prior.
In the face of this incident, Public Safety has technically adhered to the protocols regarding active threats established by the university. We firmly believe, however, that the protocol itself is the real issue here.
We acknowledge the university is only obligated to employ its alert system for active situations, but we also believe it is important to recognize Public Safety as an easily accessible and reliable source of information, especially with the potential for misinformation to be spread quickly via social media.
Although St. Joe’s students weren’t directly involved in the April 14 incident, they were directly impacted by it. Students inside Villiger Hall heard gunshots, witnessed police presence on City Avenue and watched an ambulance take a body away from the scene as they waited to receive information from the university.
Transparency, honesty and awareness in disseminating information are critical. If the university kept students informed and updated on a regular basis, it would further reinforce students’ belief that their safety and well-being come first.
As such, we call upon the university to revise their current system and protocol for reporting incidents to the St. Joe’s community. This ensures that no community member is left in the dark when it comes to their own safety and establishes trust in the department that is sworn to protect our campus community.
