Texas A&M-Commerce Releases Campus Safety Improvement Plan After Deadly Shooting
February 6, 2020
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Texas A&M University-Commerce issued a two-page campus safety action plan, two days after two women were shot and killed and a 2-year-old was shot and injured on campus.
The plan says, “The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is our number one priority at Texas A&M University-Commerce. This plan demonstrates our commitment to continually assess and improve our facilities, policies, and procedures to ensure our campus is safe and secure.”
The plan calls for:
- Increase the number of campus-wide patrols by University Police personnel, with a priority on residential living
- Faculty and staff participation in the Pride Alert Warning System (PAWS) and Lion Safe app
- Hire additional personnel to staff the front desks at each of our residence halls to monitor 24-hour controlled-access
- Increase the frequency of inspections to ensure that access control hardware and software is functioning properly on all campus buildings
- Improve campus-wide light, with particular attention to high student traffic and residential living areas
- Create a campus-wide safe-walk/buddy system program to provide safe travel for students between locations on campus
- Conduct focus groups hosted by our University Police Department to hear student and community concerns and respond appropriately
- Increase safety training and information sessions for students, faculty and staff
In addition, campus security will ask the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to perform an audit of all safety-related plans, policies, procedures and facilities at the university. The report will be issued by the end of March 2020.
According to a news report, the shooting victims were sisters, one of whom was a freshman student at the university. They were shot by the ex-boyfriend of the student's sister. A 21-year-old man has been identified and arrested as the shooter. He gas a string of prior arrests, dating back four years with charges including evading arrest, theft and aggravated robbery.
