Florida A&M’s e2Campus Alert System subscribers are encouraged to use the text alerts and other emergency notification systems offered.
Some students may have noticed fewer text message alerts compared to the campus crimes listed on the public crime log.
“We don’t send out texts for non-emergencies,” said Sgt. Sherri Luke, a crime prevention and emergency operations manager. “We don’t want people to become desensitized to the alerts.”
Emergencies that warrant a text alert include chemical spills, homeland security threats, fires, violent felons on campus, active shootings, crimes in progress, sexual assaults with outstanding suspects, severe weather tracking and evacuations.
“I believe it (e2Campus) sends out plenty of alerts,” said O’Shea Boyce, a senior psychology student from Deltona, Fla. “Especially with this new update where you also get a phone call.”
The FAMU Police Department receives alerts from the National Weather Service, Tallahassee Weather Service, campus intelligence and trained weather spotters. Each entity aids in providing campus emergency alerts in a timely fashion.
The public crime log is lesser known as an emergency notification system. Because it is not used as often as e2Campus alerts, Luke thinks that some may be unfamiliar with this system that is updated daily. The public crime log is visible to anyone who has access to FAMU’s website.
Even though the log contains more than 100 crimes from January and February combined, Luke said FAMU is a safe campus that is becoming safer.
Recently, the Department of Public Safety upgraded its system to include phone calls and alerts through Blackboard Connect. Sgt. Luke said that FAMU has been ahead of the curve and a forerunner for emergency alerts in the state of Florida.
Through the university website, students and faculty can now register for emergency alerts from the Blackboard Connect system. The department hopes to increase the amount of people who register by using a system that both students and faculty should be familiar with.
The public crime log is available at http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?PublicSafety&PublicCrimeLog.