University of Central Arkansas interim president Tom Courtway told an audience of UCA students and the parents of students that he will listen to their concerns in the wake of the fatal Oct. 26 campus shooting and take every reasonable step to ensure the security of the campus.
"You've got my word," he said at Monday night's public forum held to bring these concerns to light. "I'm asking you, as a parent, to challenge me. ... We owe that to you and your family."
Courtway promised transparency in coming weeks as campus administrators and police work to find a new balance between security and the openness he said must exist at a public university.
"We're going to tell you how much it's going to cost, we're going to tell you what
it is. ... If we're doing something wrong, you let me know about it and I'll make it right," he said.
Those at the forum voiced concerns that students and their families weren't informed soon enough and that the campus was not "locked down" effectively or quickly enough.
Most of those voicing these concerns not question the work of the University of Central Arkansas Police Department in capturing the first of four identified suspects three minutes after the shooting and bringing all four into custody within 24 hours.
Some parents said the first word they had that UCA students had been shot to death on the campus came from TV news networks.
Many arguments that word wasn't spread fast enough were centered on spotty or non-existent cell phone service at the campus on that night. One mother told the panel of UCA administrators and campus police officials that upon hearing of the shooting she frantically tried to call her son, not knowing whether he had been one of the victims.
"Had no one ever role-played this to find out that the cell phones would lock up?," she asked.
University of Central Arkansas Police Department Chief Larry James responded that no "role playing" would have simulated the tremendous volume of cellular traffic as virtually every student on campus attempted to place multiple calls to friends and family in the hours after the shooting.
James also cited a recent Georgia Tech University study that found that most local cell phone networks "just can't handle" mass cellular phone notification systems.
"For every text message we could send out, there would be three calls to our department from people wanting to ask what the situation was," James said after the forum.
The university is beginning discussions with cellular providers to find solutions, he said, but several in the panel indicated that some type of siren/loudspeaker system could be forthcoming.
After the forum James said UCA is looking into systems that could emit a siren-style noise audible across the campus followed by voice instructions to students. The system they choose, he said, would not be dissimilar to the loudspeakers at a large stadium or arena.
Another measure that James said would help prevent further campus shootings would be to limit the vehicle access points, closing all but perhaps two where camera surveillance and a visible police presence would be in place.
If this measure was taken, he said, those coming onto the campus with criminal intent "would know that they would be kind of locked in."
Another mother said after the shooting she drove onto the campus without being stopped or questioned shortly following the shooting. Lt. Rhonda Swindle, UCAPD public information officer, acknowledged that there was a delay between the shooting and the campus entry points being secured.
James said that as information was gathered by campus police in the minutes after the shooting, it seemed clear that all four suspects had left the scene, and presumably the campus, in a vehicle. Officers with UCAPD have been trained in an "active shooter" situation on the campus, he said, but with this information UCAPD concluded that "the dynamic" of the incident was not one that indicated the shooter or shooters were still on-campus.
By the end of this month, a committee of UCA administrators, city and university police officials, students and parents will present a comprehensive campus security plan.
(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
