[220] MTSU police plan emergency training exercises Jan. 7-9

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Date: Jan. 4, 2013
Editorial contact: Gina E. Fann, Gina.Fann@mtsu.edu or 615-898-5385

MTSU police plan emergency training exercises Jan. 7-9

MURFREESBORO — MTSU’s Department of Public Safety will conduct law enforcement training exercises Jan. 7-9 on campus that will include “realistic-looking” emergency scenarios, officials said.

The exercises, which will be held each morning from 8 to noon, will include police vehicles, sirens, lights and weapons with simulated ammunition.

“Even though school is not in session, we would like to make sure the campus community and all our neighbors know about our training activities for next week,” said MTSU Police Chief Buddy Peaster.

Spring 2013 classes begin Thursday, Jan. 17. University offices reopened Jan. 2 after a nine-day holiday break.

Sgt. Broede Stucky, the department’s training coordinator, said the exercise will be conducted at the Ezell Building and the Tennessee Livestock Center stock barns. Officers will use Simunition brand non-lethal training ammunition, produced by General Dynamics of Quebec, Canada, in their training weapons.

“Although clearly marked as training weapons, from a distance the weapons may appear real to the average person,” Stucky added. “We wanted to notify the community in advance so that our activities don’t cause any uneasiness.”

Vehicles and pedestrians won’t be allowed in the areas, which will be marked off with orange traffic cones and yellow tape, during each morning’s exercises.

The MTSU Department of Public Safety, which currently employs a force of 35 full-time police officers, five full-time dispatchers and about 20 part-time student workers, operates around the clock to protect the 500-plus-acre university campus and its 28,000-plus occupants.

All MTSU officers are graduates of accredited law enforcement training academies and are required by Tennessee law to undergo at least 40 hours of in-service training each year. This campus exercise is part of that required annual training.

For more information about MTSU police, visit the department’s website at http://police.mtsu.edu. You also can read a copy of the university’s 2012 Annual Security Report at http://police.mtsu.edu/data/stats/2012MTSUAnnualSecurityReport.pdf.

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