The first session will be offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 20-22 in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center at Southern Arkansas University. This training is free and will be hosted by SAU and Eric Plummer, Chief of Police. The title of the session is “Simulation-based Incident Command System (ICS) Training for Command Post & Public Safety Response Personnel.” This course will be geared toward university and college administrative officials, command level campus public safety officers, emergency response command level officers and EOC personnel.

“The advantage of this three-day course is that participants will be able to cover all aspects of prevention and preparedness with exercises in a “model city” environment,” Plummer said.
The other course is intended to help University/college administrative officials with training related to emergency preparedness plans. The course will be offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Magnolia Room of the campus and community center on May 21-22.

SAU President Dr. David Rankin said the course is particularly relevant in light of recent events such as the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University and the tornado event at Union University.

“We must realize that universities will not be able to handle the emergency response alone and will need to work with outside agencies to manage the affect of the event on our community,” Rankin said. “With this being said, we must know how other agencies will respond in order to have a seamless transition into a unified command.”

The fee is $295 and may be payable to Southern Arkansas University Police Department.

Registration is ongoing for both sessions. Call Plummer at 870-235-4372 for more information.

That is because Plummer has recently been selected to become a certified trainer for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. He was selected for this training based on his performance and the presentation ability he demonstrated during a three day course held at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Va. this October.

Melissa Nyers, an incident command training consultant for IACLEA, said that Plummer was one of 16 people out of 25 to be selected to become certified to train others in emergency response.

“(IACLEA) is very selective on who they choose to be their instructors,” Nyers said. “This is a great program and a great opportunity for (Plummer). He is a very dynamic presenter.”

The intensive training class will take place from Dec. 3-14 as selected members return to the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Va. Participants show their knowledge of how to direct those involved in disasters by using a model scale city. After they make their choices, their actions are reviewed and critiqued extensively by certified trainers, Plummer said.

The certification is a positive development for Plummer as an individual and for SAU as well, he said.

“As an instructor, I will go around to different universities around the world and teach about what to do in emergency incidents,” Plummer said. “And this way, local and state emergency responders can come here to learn and SAU will become known as one of the leaders in incident command and emergency response.”

As a certified trainer, Plummer will be required to teach four week long sessions throughout the year.

Plummer was originally nominated for IACLEA training by Brian Berry, SAU’s former dean of students.

Southern Arkansas University Police Chief Eric Plummer along with J Courson, director of housing/associate dean of students, Sandra Smith, assistant director of housing/assistant dean of students and Brian Berry, former dean of students at SAU, recently spoke at a national convention about how to foster relationships between students and University police. The convention was the Region IV West component of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and was held Nov. 8 in Little Rock.

In the presentation, Plummer and other college officials discussed and outlined the Adopt-A-Cop program implemented this year at SAU. The program assigns officers to each residence hall on campus as well as the University Village Apartments in hopes that students will begin to trust officers and the officer’s presence will help decrease crimes on campus. Officers in the program increase patrols, meet with residence hall directors and establish programs based on the individual needs of each hall, Plummer said.
So far, the program is showing positive results, Plummer said.

“We have had no burglaries reported in the residence halls this year so far, and last year by this time we had already had eight reported,” Plummer said.

In addition to security issues, the program also focuses on how to improve safety on campus. One of the issues students have been made aware of through the program is the practice of “tailgating,” in residence halls — in other words — unauthorized students gaining access to a hall by coming in behind someone with proper access, Plummer said.

Smith said she thinks the program is working and will continue to offer everyone a safer environment to attend college and live.

“University Housing and University Police divisions have partnered closely to help provide a safer campus for our students and provide them with educational opportunities on personal safety,” Smith said. “It has been very successful, and our housing staff and residents have built relationships with the individual SAU officers. We believe that this partnership has also increased residents’ awareness of the services the SAU police department offers and has strengthened the communication and relationship between the University Housing and SAU Police Department.”

The drill has been being planned since July and involved a scenario where a threat followed by the explosion of a chlorine bomb near the National Guard Armory led to two mock student deaths and 22 mock injuries of various severities, according to University Police Chief Eric Plummer. The reason for the University to participate in the drill along with members of the office of the Columbia County Emergency Management, Magnolia Fire Department, Albemarle Hazmat Team, Columbia County Ambulance Service and the Columbia County Sheriff’s office is obvious, he said.

“This is the first time SAU has ever been involved in this type of a countywide drill but it is kind of a no-brainer that we conduct these types of drills because we have one of the largest concentrations of people and employees in Columbia County,” Plummer said.

The drill presented the opportunity for the University to test a campus wide outdoor warning system that informs students what to do in case of an emergency. Plummer said SAU is the only university he knows of that has the system besides the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Another system tested during the drill was the AlertXpress. This system is a reverse 911 of sorts which notifies a person of an emergency through a designated phone number a person gives upon registering for the system. Plummer said SAU students can sign up to participate in the system by signing up on the University’s Web site, http://police.southernarkansasuniversity.info/alertxpress/.

Dr. Donna Allen, vice president for Student Affairs, said she was satisfied with the results of the drill and views the exercise as an important and necessary one.

“I thought the drill was a great opportunity for all service providers and the University to test our preparedness for emergency events. I believe everyone did a great job and Chief Plummer coordinated the University Emergency Response Team very well,” Allen said. “I look forward to the opportunity to participate in additional drills in the future so we can continue to prepare in case of an emergency.”

Planning for large scale emergencies is something that has been on Plummer’s to-do list since being named University Police Chief in the spring of 2007. Two weeks after he began his post, the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech shocked the nation and caused planning for this kind of situation to be top of mind, he said.

Plummer said he appreciates the cooperation of everyone who took the time to be involved including the student volunteers from SAU’s Nursing Department who played the role of the victims in the drill.