SAFETY AND SECURITY

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) is dedicated to ensuring the physical security and personal safety of its community members. The University strives to provide all students, faculty, and employees with a safe environment in which to learn and work. Achieving and maintaining this environment requires that all persons commit themselves to being responsible, active participants in the exercise of safety and security. Members of the University community must be knowledgeable of the rules and procedures governing the maintenance of a safe, secure environment.

The Prairie View A&M University Department of Public Safety operates 24 hours daily and provides police, fire, civil defense, and other emergency services to the university. Officers enforce university regulations as well as county and municipal ordinances, and state and federal laws. As peace officers, they are vested with all powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers while in the performance of their duties.

Prairie View A&M University has the utmost concern for the physical security and personal safety of its community members. To achieve this goal, Prairie View A&M University strives to provide each student and employee maximum freedom to live his/her life free from unwarranted or unsolicited interference. This freedom is not without a commitment of personal responsibility for becoming an active participant in the exercise of safety and security.

To promote the safety and security of the campus and its community members, PVAMU has established the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Department. For information on safety training or to report unsafe conditions, please call 936.857.4121 (Ext. 4313 DPS, 4121 EHS), or visit http://www.pvamu.edu or email ehsd@pvamu.edu.

No community’s safety plan can attain maximum effectiveness unless everyone in the community contributes to making it work. Safety and security are both personal as well as shared responsibilities. Only by accepting this responsibility can members of the University community maintain a safe and secure academic and working environment.

Responsibilities

Students and employees using or working in Prairie View A&M University facilities in the course of their studies, activities, or employment are responsible for becoming familiar with and following all safety procedures.

Deans, department heads, directors, and supervisors are responsible for the establishment and preservation of safe conditions and safe practices within their area of jurisdiction.

Briefings, meetings, announcements, and posters will be provided to promote safety and familiarize student and personnel with safety policies and procedures.

Emergency

All emergency situations involving:

a crime in progress, personal assaults, major car accidents, destruction of University property
a medical emergency
a fire, tornado or hurricane, explosion, terrorist threats, or major chemical spill

Procedure for Reporting Emergencies or Crime On Campus should include an immediate report to *2-911. All phones, both on and off campus (including pay phones) may be used to dial 911 at no charge. Persons should be aware that the University telephone systems require that you dial a “*2" for an “outside line” before dialing 911. (Dial *2-911.)

As an added security measure, there are “Blue Light” non-dial outdoor emergency telephones located at strategic points on campus. These phones are easily identified by their blue lights. When the receiver is lifted, the caller is in immediate contact with the University Police. In addition to providing voice contact, a police dispatcher is also able to pinpoint the caller’s location. These phones are for emergency use only!

Non-Emergency

To report any non-emergency incident occurring on campus, the University Department of Public Safety (DPS) may be called, extension 4823.

When calling for either emergency or non-emergency service, be prepared to:

clearly identify yourself
state your exact location
state briefly, the nature of your call

If possible, the caller should stay on the line unless otherwise advised by the dispatcher.

Emergency Evacuation Plan and Drills

The Environmental Health and Safety Department will assist with the development and testing of the plan. To ensure building occupants are prepared for an emergency evacuation, fire drills must be conducted as needed. Fire drills should involve all occupants. Everyone must leave the building when the fire alarm sounds. Occupants should close (do not lock) doors as they leave the work area.

Tornado and Severe Weather Conditions

All building occupants should know where to go in case of a tornado or severe weather. The Senior Building Occupants, department heads, directors, managers, and faculty members should review the following steps with all students and employees:

get indoors and stay indoors during the storm
go to the interior hallways on the lowest level of the building
stay away from windows, doors, and outside walls and protect your head
leave mobile homes, trailers, and vehicles and go to a substantial structure
if there is no shelter nearby, lie flat in the nearest ditch, ravine, or culvert

The vast majority of all injuries and fatalities resulting from severe weather occur to persons in mobile homes and motor vehicles. Serious injuries to persons in interior areas of brick or stone buildings are rare. Notification of improved weather conditions can be obtained from a local radio station or television set.

For more extensive details regarding emergencies, review the University Crisis Management Plan.

Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics

Pursuant to the 1998 Higher Education Act and the Campus Security Act of 1990, information with respect to campus crime statistics and campus security policies at Prairie View A&M University are available to all students, staff, and faculty at the University Department of Public Safety, Central Receiving Building, telephone, 936.857.4823, or visit the Prairie View web page.