By Kurt Hyde
Sports Editor
On Oct. 3, Brookhaven College Police held a lockdown drill, a procedure performed to practice for potential safety threats in or around campus by clearing foot traffic and diverting everyone to the nearest classrooms.
If you were walking between the A Building and the B Building as it started, there is a very good chance you were directed to seek refuge in the campus police department.
That is exactly what happened to a group of Brookhaven students. For these six students, the 15-minute wait was anything but boring. They got a look at the inner workings of the lockdown drill.
Once inside the B Building, the students were invited into Room B207, where Brookhaven Police Chief John Klingensmith directed the activities of first responders.
Some students relaxed, some texted and others fixed their eyes on the matrix of monitors on the wall, which displayed activities as seen by the security cameras stationed around the campus.
Soon, the monitoring of activities became predominantly monitoring of non-activity, as most of the surveillance cameras in the matrix displayed scenes of deserted sidewalks because the students and staff were all indoors.
There were enough seats for all, but some students chose to stand. They said no one felt claustrophobic, and, student Robert Tuveng said, “It’s big enough to have a party in here.”
The lockdown drill ended at 11 a.m. when Klingensmith transmitted the all-clear. Klingensmith thanked all participants and said, “I would personally like to thank the Brookhaven community for their participation during this police activity lockdown drill, and their willingness to cooperate is why it was a successful drill.”
Klingensmith also recommended students and staff go to the Brookhaven web page and sign up for cell phone text alerts.
“All staff and students are automatically signed up for email alerts, but they are not automatically signed up for cell phone alerts,” Klingensmith said. “We do not use cell phone text alerts during drills, but only during real emergency alerts.”
