The UNC community was rattled after a devastating shooting on August 28 where one faculty member died. Then campus went into lockdown again on September 13 because of an unknown man with a gun. The Board of Trustees met to discuss the response from UNC Police and emergency planning details on September 28. Board members and those involved talked about improvement plans and what can be done to make our campus safer.
UNC’s Chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, started off the discussion by praising law enforcement on their heroic efforts during the campus shooting, lockdown, and the acknowledgment that there is room to improve.
“I’m proud of the way that our police emergency teams and Community responded during both of these events,” Guskiewicz said. “No system is perfect though we’re conducting a review of the Emergency Operations to see what we can learn from these two incidents.”
The chancellor highlighted three specific areas that are especially important in this review.
“First is how do we improve the initial actions that we take to support each other in such a situation, second is what do we do better to secure our physical spaces, and then third — and perhaps most important — is what are the root causes that lead to something like this that we can address as a community,” Guskiewicz said. “We’re focused on all three of these and we established a portal to hear feedback from people across our campus and from parents.”
Guskiewicz explained that a portal has been established that will allow parents, students, and people across campus to discuss community concerns and provide feedback to the board. UNC Police Chief Brian James presented details to the board about the events that unfolded and action taken by police. The reason the lockdown took an extensive amount of time was for police to find the weapon the shooter used James said.
“We wanted to ensure that we did everything that we possibly could to locate that weapon, especially if it was on campus, before we lifted that lockdown,” said James. “And I can’t emphasize enough that once you lift the lockdown if there’s a reason to go back into the lockdown that’s very very difficult.”
James told the trustees as of the September 28 meeting the gun used to shoot Dr. Zijie Yan has not been found. After describing the UNC Police force’s actions that day, James talked about ways to improve going forward.
“A few things that we want to talk about going forward as we look at improvement efforts and how we can better secure campus,” James explained. “First and foremost many of our law enforcement officers have asked for an exercise to come on campus to get more familiar with campus.”
James described campus as a maze to anyone who is unfamiliar with the area. A next step for the police force is to get license plate readers with a company called “Flock,” said James.
“We just want to ensure that we have cameras in the places that they need to be and try to prevent or reduce the number of blind spots that we have on campus,” James shared. “We want to review camera access to ensure coverage and quick retrieval of video.”
An effort to integrate technologies that will allow a “real-time environment” for law enforcement to better survey the area is underway. James said the police force will provide ongoing active shooting training and building security surveys training-which as he noted is equally important.
Director of Emergency Planning Darrell Jeter presented next, highlighting his organization’s role during the shooting.
“One of our key roles is supporting any updated messaging between the initial siren alert and the all clear,” Jeter said. “So, we had subsequent updates through our Alert Carolina system that was sent out throughout that process or period that the University was on lockdown. We’re going to be taking a close analysis of the response activity to make sure that our core capabilities exist and are strong and then identify any gaps that may exist.”
UNC Board of Trustees full board meeting held at the Carolina Inn. September 28, 2023. In this photo, Darrell Jeter, Director, Emergency Management and Planning addresses the board.
(Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
After the presentation board members asked questions and raised concerns. UNC Trustee Marty Kotis shared his worries regarding the Town of Chapel Hill’s police funding and the resources available to them if assisting the university in an emergency.
“One thing when we talk about defunding the police that’s occurred out there is we talk about town and gown, we have seen our neighbor, Chapel Hill reduce police positions I think they reduced 15 from [2020-2021] and that is unacceptable and we have to hold them accountable,” Kotis declared.
The “defunding” Kotis mentioned refers to the Town of Chapel Hill police cutting 15 vacant positions during the annual budget process in 2021-22. This dropped the number of officers from 88 to 73.
Kotis stressed his concerns and gave his support to UNC Police.
“That has to be our number one priority so to the extent again any resources are needed I think you have our full board commitment and administrative commitment for that,” Kotis said.
Christopher Everett, the Student Body President, spoke to the board addressing his concerns and explaining how he is working towards a safer Carolina.
“I am here today to implore you all to keep doing more to continue building safer campus,” said Everett. “I know for myself, my administration has been working on surveying students on their experiences during these events. I’ve been working closely with the Office of the Dean of Students to examine these responses, and I hope to have some of those conversations with you all in the coming weeks.
“Our work doesn’t stop at building a safer campus,” he added, “because the reality is there are so many other student concerns that really need our voices.”
Featured photo Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines